Lambton's medical officer of health says they're preparing for high volume immunization later this month.
Dr. Sudit Ranade told Sue Storr on CHOK (103.9 FM, 1070 AM) Tuesday morning that the Point Edward Arena/Optimist Club Community Hall will be used for mass inoculations.
"We've got a clinic set up there already, and so we're transitioning from that little clinic to the big clinics, they're already in the space, we know everything about the space," said Ranade. "But much more importantly, in a few weeks we're going to start taking more shipments and deliveries [of vaccine] in the health unit, and that site is really, really close for us to be able to manage the complexity around transporting the freezer-based vaccines."
Dr. Ranade says people shouldn't get too caught up in comparing one area to another in terms of its vaccination readiness.
"The problem is that when different jurisdictions are moving at different paces, or choosing different priorities, you're going to see this a lot. This same story played out when Guelph said we're starting our 80-pluses and Toronto said we're not starting people in the general population until April 1. There are different levels of readiness in different places."
Dr. Ranade said in just a few weeks when they start up a system where they can do thousands of vaccines a day, many of the regional differences will disappear very quickly.
Ontario's new online booking website, as well as a new provincial call centre, are expected to be open to the public on March 15.
-With files from Sue Storr
