Appointments for flu vaccines, the latest COVID booster or FluVID shots (a combination of both) can now be made through Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health (WDGPH).
“You can choose to get one vaccine only or get both flu and COVID vaccines at the same appointment,” says the WDGPH website.
Stone Road Mall is the location for the Guelph vaccine clinic and Fergus Sportsplex is the location for the Fergus vaccine clinic.
The first shipment of supply arrived late last week. The next shipment is expected next week.
Appointments are available to people six-months-old or older who have not received a vaccine and who have not tested positive for COVID in the last six months.
The appointments can be booked online and those getting the flu vaccine will need to fill out a flu vaccine consent form prior to their appointment. Alternatively, people can call WDGPH to make an appointment.
Appointments can also be made by contacting your family doctor, health care provider or pharmacy.
“We are also distributing the vaccine out into the community to ensure high-risk members of the community have access through long-term care facilities, retirement homes, hospitals and primary care providers,” said Rita Isley, chief nursing officer and director of community health for WDGPH, through email.
The vaccines being provided this fall, Pfizer and Moderna, target the XBB.1.5 strain of the Omicron variant, said Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum, associate medical officer of health at WDGPH, in an email.
Although the XBB.1.5 strain is related to Omicron it is not an exact match but the vaccine is expected to provide good protection this fall and winter based on available antibody data, he said.
This time last year WDGPH offered bivalent vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, these included components to target the original COVID strain and components to target BA.1, BA.4, or BA.5 Omicron strains, depending on the vaccine, Tenenbaum said.
WDGPH expects the updated vaccines targeting XBB.1.5 to be better matched to the Omicron strains circulating this fall and winter.
