If it was a department store, the doors would be covered with posters saying: "Overstocked" and "Open Late! Everything Must Go."
The Lac La Biche Health Unit's shelves are full of vaccine — but the activity in the vaccination chairs isn't matching the stock. So local health officials are calling out to the community — even staying open on the holiday long weekend.
Only first-dose vaccinations were being delivered at the walk-in clinics. Those requiring second doses have to register with Alberta Health Services through the province-wide 811 hotline.
Nurses and health officials associated with the local health unit say walk-ins are welcome. The vaccine clinic is located at the health unit in the Lac La Biche Provincial Building on Beaver Hill Road.
Moderna and Pfizer available
Using all avenues they can to get the message out, health officials have taken to local social media channels, personal emails and phone calls to give residents "a little poke" ... to remind them.
"We have clinics every day — even on the long weekend," wrote an area nurse in a request to the Lac La Biche POST newsroom, explaining that the health unit has Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in stock.
Weekend walk-ins or call 811
The Lac La Biche Health Unit vaccine clinic is open for walk-ins before 3 pm on the Friday of the long weekend and on the Saturday and Sunday of the long weekend from 9 am to 4:30 pm.
For those who want to book a specific time — and those requiring their second vaccination shot — local health officials say to call the provincial health hotline at 811 or go online to www.ahs.ca. The local health unit can also be called directly at 780-623-4471 (press 1 for Public Health).
Recent reports show that the Pfizer vaccine, once thought to have a limited shelf life unless it was stored in freezers, can now be stocked in refrigerators for longer periods of time. Despite the extended storage time, local officials say the need to distribute their stockpile of vaccines.
Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche MLA Laila Goodridge is pleased to see the clinics offering a variety of times for residents to find their way to a vaccine.
"Opening more spaces and having different opening hours available — expanding the hours and having weekends and evenings — is what was needed," she told Lakeland This Week last Thursday afternoon. "It can be a struggle to get there in a lot of these working communities."
About one-third in Lakeland
Going into the long weekend, Alberta Health Services was reporting that more than 2.3 million vaccine doses had been administered, with 335,500 residents being fully immunized. In the Lakeland area, AHS statistics show that one-third of residents in the St. Paul area have received at least one vaccine dose. The same percentage is being reported in the Bonnyville area population. The Lac La Biche region is showing a slightly higher overall number, with 38 per cent reporting at least one dose. In all three areas, the percentage of doses given to residents aged 75 and over is at more than 75 per cent.
*This story has been updated to include the clarification that only FIRST DOSES of the vaccines is available for walk-in clients. Those requiring second doses of vaccines must call 811 to book an appointment
