Residents looking to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine are reminded to use the local booking system

WINDSOR, ONT. -- The Windsor Essex County Health Unit is reminding residents 80 years and older to continue to use the local pre-registration form to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

There will be no changes to the local process of booking a COVID-19 vaccine while the province has launched the Ontario provincial booking system Monday morning, Windsor-Essex residents are reminded to continue to use the local pre-registration system. 

Adults 80 and older in need of a vaccine are asked to provide their information in the local pre-registration form or call (519-251-4072), where individuals will be randomly selected and then contacted to book their appointments at either the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre (WFCU) or the Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Centre (NFFRC) clinic in Leamington. 

WECHU says a third and fourth option for seniors 80 plus will be available at the St. Clair College SportsPlex and downtown Windsor at the Windsor Hall.

Vaccinations will be booked at the new clinics starting Monday, March 22. These clinics are by appointment only and pre-registration is required.

WECHU says based on the current progress it anticipates most of the more than 13,000 pre-registrants in this age group will be able to receive their first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine by the end of March.

As of Sunday, WECHU says there has been a total of 42,640 vaccine doses administered in Windsor-Essex, since the first vaccine was administered at the St. Clair College Sportsplex by Windsor Regional Hospital on Dec. 22.

The health unit says the region is making “significant progress” in vaccinating priority populations identified in Phase 1 of the Ontario government’s three-phase vaccine distribution plan.

Vaccines are now being distributed locally at the targeted vaccine clinics in Windsor and Leamington, the St. Clair College SportsPlex, and targeted mobile clinics being coordinated by Essex-Windsor EMS and the WECHU, and now select local pharmacies now offering the AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD vaccine to eligible adults aged 60-64 as part of the provincial pilot program.