LONDON, ONT. – Eligibility to vaccinate continues to grow across the region, and the more people prepare to queue, the more the number of vaccines available in local pharmacies is temporarily drying up.
Within six weeks, owner Peter Yurek saw in Yurek’s pharmacy in London that more than a thousand doses of AstraZeneca had been administered.
“Everyone was so excited to get the shot that our staff were excited to be part of the process.”
During a successful first month, the vaccination operation has now stalled. “Unfortunately we haven’t had a vaccine for a few weeks.”
The province’s public health sector is responsible for supplying pharmacies with vaccines.
Within the past two weeks, some AstraZeneca cans originally destined for Middlesex-London have been diverted to hotspot areas in Toronto and are likely to be unavailable.
“You are using the vaccine where it is needed and that is the right decision. I expect we will have more in the next few weeks, pharmacies will now have access to Pfizer and Moderna, they are currently testing some of the hotspots and as supply increases over the next few weeks I expect we will be back will be vaccination. “
When pharmacies will have Moderna and Pfizer vaccines has not yet been confirmed, but Yurek estimates that his pharmacy staff will be resuming vaccines in early June.
While vaccine supplies are uncertain in some pharmacies, May was still one of the busiest for vaccine dispensing in the region.
“We have now vaccinated 216,000 people in this area, about 188,000 through the mass hospitals, 22,000 through pharmacies, and about 5.5 through general practitioners … that’s 51 percent of adults,” said Dr. Chris, Middlesex-London Mackie Medical Health Officer, in a press conference on Monday.
Despite rising vaccine numbers, the health unit is confident that the clinics will be able to meet the growing demand.
In a press conference on Monday, the Middlesex-London Health Unit also announced the opening of a new mass vaccination clinic, the Earl Nichols Arena.
The schedule for the vaccination center will be announced next Thursday.
