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Councillors unsuccessful at getting second city mass vaccination site

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Brantford Mayor Kevin Davis was unsuccessful Friday in the making the case for second mass COVID-19 vaccination site for the city.

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The mayor and councillors John Sless and Brian VanTilborg were outvoted by the other members of the Brant County board of the health, which called an emergency meeting to review its vaccination plans.

Councillors this week said they were inundated with complaints after it was announced the clinic would open in the former downtown mall at 1 Market St., which is now part of the Laurier Brantford campus. A second clinic opened at the Paris fairgrounds. They are providing shots for local residents aged 80 and older.

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Commending Brant County Health Unit staff for working “tirelessly” during the pandemic, the mayor presented a resolution to create a second mass clinic.

“When you’re inside of Market Square, it’s a very efficient facility,” he said. “And I think the heath unit did a good job of arranging the clinic and how it operates.”

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But he said there’s a public perception that there isn’t appropriate parking and some residents would prefer to not go downtown.

But Jo Ann Tober, CEO of the health unit, said downtown site ticked every necessary box the agency was looking for: size; accessibility; climate controlled for the fragile vaccine; a high, strong internet access; electrical plugs for equipment and supplies; one-way flow; a lack of impact on community programming; and mass transit access.

Tober said the health unit is already planning the Brant Brantford paramedics station at 355 Henry St. in Brantford as a temporary pop-up clinic.

She said the agency expects that, after the next week, to have 86 per cent of the over-80 population done, so it wouldn’t make sense to add a second site.

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Tober and Brant Coun. John Bell, the board’s chair, said there had been a lot of positive feedback from downtown clinic, including that users found it easy to find parking and move through the clinic.

Sless said people had a perception that the city was in charge of the clinics and directed their anger about the downtown site at councillors.

“Laurier make tick all the boxes but the public doesn’t care about boxes. An 80-year-old with a walker won’t go from the parking garage. And there’s a perception of a safety problem in the downtown.”

Bell and Tober said the number of vaccinations is running ahead of ahead of the provincial standards and local residents, aged 80 and older, will get their shots ahead of those in most of the Greater Toronto Area.

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“This has been a tough meeting but we need to keep working on the issues,” said Bell.

Tober said the agency is working as quickly as possible in the face of everchanging news, including approval Friday of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The health unit’s online booking system crashed on Friday after opening another 3,100 slots for those 80 and older.

But Tober said people can call the health unit at 519-753-4937 and press 2 in order to leave a name and phone number.

A team of staff members is taking calls and messages and getting back to people to help them book appointments.

SGamble@postmedia.com

@EXPSGamble

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