The Skeena
Vaccine givers and vaccine recipients were at the ready Sunday, as Day One of the community vaccination program for COVID-19 got underway.
The parking lot of the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre served as the holding area for those awaiting their vaccination shots, with those who had booked appointments on Friday already making their way into the auditorium for their shot.
The project required some extensive planning by Northern Health, along with the assistance of the City of Prince Rupert Recreation Centre staff to have things ready for today, which was actually one day earlier than had been previously scheduled.
Northern Health estimates that with their 120hour schedule for the week ahead that more than 1300 vaccination appointments per day will take place
While the vaccine program continues through the day, with hours of 9am to 9pm, residents of the area continue to call into the appointment booking line, which has remained busy through the weekend.
A few times, Northern Health has had to remind residents of Prince Rupert and Port Edward of the schedule they have set for the vaccination program, which is designed to reduce the amount of wait times for those looking to book appointments.
Those wait times have varied through the weekend, which has seen heavy ebbs and flows through the early stage of the appointment program so far.
There have also been some glitches along the way with people calling in, getting disconnected from time to time which can be a frustrating situation.
To book an appointment call 1-866-481-2175. Northern Health call takers are working each day until 7pm.
As the clinic got underway, Northern Health provided some helpful information for those heading off to appointments this coming week.
