More than 5,000 COVID-19 vaccination appointments for seniors who are 80 years of age and older were filled within two hours of the opening of online and telephone bookings this morning. Vaccination appointments for those who are 80 years of age and older will begin on Saturday, March 6th at both the Western Fair District Agriplex and the Caradoc Community Centre in Mount Brydges.

With over 200,000 phone calls, the phone system had some outages this morning. There were nearly 30,000 hits on the booking website, with no significant outages. The online and telephone booking systems have now been closed for the rest of the day.

“The demand for vaccination appointments this morning has been tremendous. In less than two hours more than 5,000 people were able to pick a time when they could get a first dose,” says Dr. Chris Mackie, Medical Officer of Health with the Middlesex-London Health Unit. “I apologize to everyone who called in and was not able to get through.”

While appointments up until March 16th have now been filled, the Health Unit’s system will reopen tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. to book appointments, either online or by telephone, for appointments on March 17th. Because of vaccine supply, the system is only able to book vaccination appointments 14-days from the current date.

It is expected that the appointments for March 17th will fill up very quickly tomorrow morning.

COVID-19 vaccination appointments are currently available for those who are 80 years of age and older, as well as Indigenous adults who are over the age of 55 and healthcare workers in the very-high priority group. To book an appointment visit www.covidvaccinelm.ca or call 226-289-3560.

Visit https://www.healthunit.com/covid-19-vaccine for the latest COVID-19 vaccine information.

Media Contacts:
Dan Flaherty, Communications Manager, Middlesex-London Health Unit, 519-617-0570 or
519-663-5317, extension 2469

Spokespeople:
Dr. Chris Mackie, Medical Officer of Health, Middlesex-London Health Unit