Just hours after it was announced the province’s mobile vaccination clinic would be making a stop this week in London, the planned visit was unexpectedly cancelled.
Middlesex London's Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Alex Summers made the announcement during the afternoon COVID-19 media briefing on Monday. Summers said the province provided no explanation for the cancellation, but was optimistic Ontario’s GO-VAXX bus would return to the city early in the new year.
The mobile clinic was to visit the city from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday, administering first, second, and third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine at 1200 Commissioners Road East.
Ontario's mobile vaccination clinic, a retrofitted Metrolinx bus, was last in London on December 11. It has been traveling across the province, making stops at malls, community hubs, festivals, and special events. All COVID-19 public health safety measures are followed on board, including pre-entry symptom screening, mandatory face covering while inside, and post-vaccination monitoring.
The GO-VAXX bus' now cancelled second stop in London would have come as demand for the booster shot reached an all time high. Eligibility for the third shot expanded Monday to everyone 18 and older. Appointment times at brick and mortar vaccine clinics were quickly snapped up with roughly 6,000 appointments booked in the London-area in just a few hours. The Middlesex London Health Unit releases a limited number of new appointments each day. More than 125,000 appointments were booked through the provincial booking system as of 10 a.m. Monday.
