THUNDER BAY - Those wishing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine now have many more options to book an appointment after the Ministry of Health expands pharmacy distribution across the province.
There are now 18 pharmacies in the city of Thunder Bay administering either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
“Hopefully it comes in this evening. We’ve been told that it is,” said Greg Tinsley, clinical coordinator for Janzen’s Pharmacy. “We are very happy that we are going to be able to start offering vaccines through our pharmacy. Hopefully we can this week.”
The Moderna vaccine will be available at the three Janzen’s Pharmacy locations on North Edward Street, Frederica Street, and Bay Street.
According to Tinsley, the Northwood and Westfort locations expect to receive 100 doses Wednesday evening with the remaining location receiving shipments later this week and next.
Appointments are available to anyone over the age of 18.
“Thankfully we’ve already started online booking,” Tinsley said. “We have a number of people who have already expressed interest. We are only doing first injections right now at the direction of the Ministry of Health. We anticipate there won’t be any issues.”
Tinsley added that between 30 and 40 appointments have already been booked and vaccinations will likely begin by the end of the week. He anticipates the pharmacy will be able to accommodate a minimum of 100 appointments per week, which will be based on vaccine supply.
Earlier in the spring, four pharmacies in the city of Thunder Bay were offering doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to individuals over the age of 40. The province has since suspended AstraZeneca as a first dose out of an abundance of caution due to it being linked to very rare instances of blood clots.
The province has since expanded its rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine to more than 2,500 pharmacies across the province as vaccine supply continues to increase.
“I think that’s only a positive thing,” Tinsley said. “We’ve had so much interest over the past three months. We get constantly bombarded with calls. People are trying to get it anywhere they possibly can and now they have more options.”
Tinsley added that having more options for the vaccine outside of mass immunization clinics through the province’s online booking portal could help entice more people to get immunized.
“We’ve had a number of people who for a variety of different reasons, maybe there could be a mental health issue, they are not comfortable going into a large clinical setting,” he said. “They would rather go in and see someone they see on a regular basis.”
Vaccine appointments can be booked on the Janzen’s Pharmacy website. A complete list of local pharmacies offering the COVID-19 vaccine can be found on the province’s vaccine location website.
