When one local resident went for her vaccine at the Civic Centre recently she said the experience was amazing.
The process was streamlined, everything went smoothly but there was one thing that seemed a bit unusual and that was many of the volunteers it takes to herd everyone through the many-step process within the Civic Centre walls were from other parts of the country.
"I found that a bit surprising," Sue Stewart, local resident, said.
Stewart said she spoke to volunteers who were from
She said that
The volunteers at the Civic Centre are from the Red Cross and had been deployed on April 13 as part of an emergency response initiative that was requested by the Ministry of Health and Northern Health Authority.
The Canadian Red Cross provides non-clinical support to local health authorities to help get as many people vaccinated as possible, the Red Cross media team said in a response for comment.
Immediate needs for surge capacity resulted in the deployment of Red Cross personnel while efforts were made to recruit a local workforce to sustain the operation in the longer term. These recruitment efforts have been successful, with a locally-based team now undergoing training to support in non-clinical roles by late May.
The Canadian Red Cross said it is thankful for the support from the people of
Each day there are approximately 25 clinic operations staff and 25 or more people in staff and volunteer supporting roles helping with the process of getting vaccines into arms. Along with the Northern Health staff people from other organizations include Red Cross, the First Nations Health Authority, PG Friendship Centre, Metis Nation BC and Paladin Security.
"Staff includes site leaders, staff preparing the vaccine, and the immunizers on the operational side, and positions like registration clerks, screeners, and post-immunization monitors on the support side of things,” said a Northern Health Authority email in a response for comment.
The process at the Civic Centre is very relaxed, Stewart said.
"We were each allotted 15 minutes for our shot but it only takes about two minutes to get it done so we were yapping away," Stewart said about chatting with the nurse who administered the shot. "Then you're done and two more people are waiting there to help you walk to the right spot, which is the black room and in there were three volunteers and that's where you sit and wait for 15 minutes. The volunteers do two laps to make sure you aren't having any symptoms."
Stewart said there were hardly any people getting vaccinated when she attended and thought there could be at least twice as many people being vaccinated within the same time slot.
Northern Health said they can only administer the shots they have.
"Vaccine is allocated weekly and this determines the number of appointments each day/week, so all vaccine allotted is used each week," Northern Health Authority said in response to an email request for comment. "We are providing the maximum number of appointments based on vaccine allotment. The
