The County and Hastings Prince Edward Public Health (HPEPH) have finalized a plan to host a COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the Prince Edward Community Centre in Picton.

“We are proud to support Hastings Prince Edward Public Health and its efforts to deliver the vaccine to residents across our community,” Mayor Steve Ferguson said in a press release Thursday. “For the past year we have rallied as a community to prevent the spread of the virus. The arrival of the vaccine gives us hope that better days are ahead, and we will do everything we can as a municipality to ensure vaccination is a success.”

HPEPH is currently offering the vaccine to eligible groups who have been contacted directly by HPEPH or their workplace. Those groups include:

A SHOT IN THE ARM – Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Emergency Room and Heart Function Clinic nurse Mary Stever was one of the first local QHC front line employees to receive a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine last week. HPEPH announced that the Prince Edward Community Centre in Picton will be a vaccination centre. (Prince Edward Family Health Team Submitted Photo)

• Residents, staff and essential caregivers in long term care homes, high-risk retirement homes and First Nations elder care homes.
• Alternative level of care patients in hospitals who have a confirmed admission to a long-term care home, retirement home or other congregate care home for seniors.
• Highest Priority health care workers and Very High Priority health care workers who provide more direct, in-person patient care, have higher likelihood of engaging in higher exposure risk procedures, and provide urgent and critical, services that cannot be delayed or deferred.
• Indigenous adults in northern remote and higher risk communities (including on-reserve and urban communities).
• Individuals who have been contacted directly by the Province of Ontario or their health care provider to participate in pilot booking and vaccination projects being offered by HPEPH.

Open clinics for age-based availability are not currently available; however, HPEPH plans to begin to offer the vaccine to individuals 80 years of age and older beginning mid-March. Age-based clinics will be offered to age-based increments of the population in descending order. Approximate start times for age-based increments are available on the HPEPH website.

Please note that the timelines are approximate. Vaccines may be delivered to various groups concurrently or sequentially based on vaccine availability, as well as provincial and/or local priority setting. View the vaccine rollout timeline for Hastings Prince Edward health region.

You can register to receive notification when your age group is eligible for the vaccine. Visit the HPEPH website to sign up. Please do not contact HPEPH to inquire if your age group is eligible. This will ensure phone lines remain available to those who need them most. Weekly vaccine updates are posted on the HPEPH website.

While you wait for the vaccine, there are still actions you can take to protect yourself and the community. Please continue to practice public health precautions and avoid close contact with anyone outside your household. If you have symptoms, even mild ones, stay home and get tested at a COVID-19 Assessment Centre.

The COVID-19 testing centre will continue to operate at the Prince Edward Community Centre Monday – Friday, 9 am – 5 pm. Call 613.813.6864. For weekend testing, call the Belleville/Trenton hotline at 613.961.5544.

-Staff