No need to panic.
That's the message from the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit to the community as COVID-19 booster eligibility opens to Ontarians 18 and older.
Health unit CEO Nicole Dupuis says the health unit is asking for patience and has increased capacity at the mass vaccination site at Devonshire Mall.
She says the health unit is also looking to open two new mass vaccination clinics in Leamington and west Windsor in early January.
Dupuis says redeploying resources allows for an increase in vaccination appointment times.
"We are everyday increasing opportunities of the vaccination and don't want people to panic, just continue to follow public health measures and public health advise and do all the things that we've been speaking to for the past two years to keep yourself, your family and your community safe," says Dupuis.
She's encouraging the public to take the first available appointment.
"I think everyone can remember the process we went through before for first and second doses and it was a bit of a longer, where we had different sections of the population open at different times and we are opening it up for 18 and over all at once so certainly, it's a little bit of a different experience," she says.
Acting medical officer of health Dr. Shanker Nesathurai says there is vaccine availability and it's distributed through multiple channels.
"The public health services work to try to improve accessibility even further," says Dr. Nesathurai. "I'm hopeful that more family doctors will also be part of the distribution chain and we're trying to work with them to encourage that as well."
The health unit now has capacity at the Devonshire Mall site for roughly 3,000 individuals to get vaccinated per day.
Primary care providers and pharmacies are also administering the vaccine.
To book an appointment at the mass vaccination clinic, visit the health unit website at www.wechu.org.