LONDON, ONT. -- Mass vaccination centres will aim to have 377,685 people in London and Middlesex County receive a protective shot against COVID-19 over the coming months.

A strategy to achieve that monumental task is detailed in the Middlesex-London Health Unit’s new 36-page vaccination plan.

The goal is to vaccinate at least 75 per cent of eligible recipients in order to bring the local spread of COVID-19 under control.

“The tentative capacity goal for mass vaccination clinics in the Middlesex-London region is 3,000 vaccines per day,” states the report.

In keeping with the province’s three-phase distribution plan, health officials have estimated the local population size of each priority group.

Based on 2016 Census data, phase one vaccinations will include:

  • 15,600 long-term care and retirement home workers
  • 22,000 health care workers
  • 7,389 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit persons

Phase two vaccinations will include:

  • 78,510 essential workers
  • 34,5444 adults over 75
  • 84,328 adults 60 to 74

Essential workers in phase two are defined as: education, law, social, community, and government organizations; trades, transport, and equipment operators; natural resources, agriculture, and related production; manufacturing and utilities.

“The Ministry of Health directs the allocation of the vaccine,” states the report. “However, vaccine supply differs by region, and further prioritization may be required.”

Currently the London Health Sciences Centre is operating the region’s first mass vaccination centre inside the Western Fair Agriplex. It has capacity to give up to 1,000 vaccines per day.

To reach the objective of 3,000 vaccine shots per day, the health unit will establish three additional mass vaccination clinics soon.

“Site selection and acquisition is anticipated to be completed by the end of January 2021, and each facility ready for activation by mid-February 2021,” details the report.

To meet the vaccination target, each staff member is estimated to administer 14 vaccinations per hour.

Vaccination clinics will operate seven days a week, but the hours will vary.

Middlesex-London Paramedic Service will also develop a mobile vaccination team to administer shots to groups who are unable to access the mass vaccination clinics.

The health unit is asking residents to complete a survey about the vaccination plan before February 3, 2021.

More details on the plan can be found here and a link to the survey is here.