'Quite complex, but really successful': SHA reflects on drive-thru and mass vaccination clinics as it shifts to targeted strategy

REGINA -

The Saskatchewan Health Authority is calling its drive-thru and mass vaccination clinics a success as it shifts the vaccination strategy towards outreach.

The first drive-thru vaccination site opened at Regina’s Evraz Place in mid-march as a pilot project. The concept combined the modelling of testing drive-thru sites, with the SHA’s influenza and other vaccination campaigns.

“It was really quite complex, but really successful, the model,” said Sheila Anderson, the SHA’s vaccine chief for the emergency operations centre.

At one point, there were 20 drive-thru sites across the province, with the largest being in Regina and Saskatoon. Anderson said each site required considerations on managing and transporting the vaccine, safety protocols, staffing, traffic flow and waiting areas.

“Another part of what we did was also the digital health support and the IT support we needed, so we could do real-time data entry into our vaccination programs to ensure we were documenting in real time,” she said.

In total, the SHA delivered more than 260,000 vaccines through drive-thru clinics and almost 585,000 through booked appointments at mass immunization sites.

Dr. Joseph Blondeau, head of clinical microbiology at Royal University Hospital and the University of Saskatchewan, said these sites were successful thanks to the hard work of the vaccine teams.

“With over a million people in the province, that was an enormous effort, in a relatively short period of time,” Dr. Blondeau said. “I think we have to be proud of all of those accomplishments.”

However, the SHA is shifting away from these kinds of vaccine clinics, as demand for the vaccine has changed, and the number of people booking appointments has slowed.

“Now we’re doing more of outreach clinics, so we’re taking vaccine out to where people live work and play,” said Anderson.

Going forward, COVID-19 shots will be available across the province at walk-in and pop-up clinics and by appointment at participating pharmacies. Appointments booked online will still be available in small centres that don’t have access to a pharmacy.

Dr. Blondeau said he agrees with the SHA’s decision to shift strategy.

“It’s a tremendous amount of resources that are required to have people sitting and waiting all day for people to come in and get vaccinated. And if people aren’t utilizing that, I think that that resource needs to be spent differently.”

Anderson said the SHA is worried about vaccination rates, and is expecting to see an increase in COVID-19 cases in the fall.

“We’re expecting it to be in younger populations, that’s where we have less people vaccinated. Even starting to see in other jurisdictions, where kids are starting to be impacted more by COVID,” said Anderson.