Eastern Health fails to advertise booster clinic: Nobody shows up

By Mark Squibb/January 27, 2022

Members of Bay Bulls council say a recent vaccination clinic would have been better attended if people had been given more notice about it.

The clinic was held Friday, January 14 at the Bay Bulls Regional Lifestyle Centre, and was a topic of discussion at the January 17 council meeting.

“I did hear some chatter from residents that there was kind of a late notice,” said councillor Keith O’Driscoll. “Some residents weren’t even aware of it. I don’t know if that’s the case because they were struggling to find a place and just came up with this at the last second.”

CAO Jennifer Aspell noted she had attended the meeting with Eastern Health and the Northeast Avalon Joint Council Meeting when the clinic was first announced.

“The meeting was held at 1:30 on Thursday afternoon, and during that meeting, Eastern Health announced that there would be a clinic in Bay Bulls the following day,” said Aspell. “They had just received notice themselves from the facility.”

Aspell said the town immediately posted a notice about the clinic on social media.

Councillor Jason Sullivan said Eastern Health ought to have done a better job promoting it.

“It was unfortunate too, and it was totally on Eastern Health,” said Sullivan. “There were 16 doctors in sitting down, and not one person getting their shot… Hopefully they can get their act together, because it’s not the best use of our medical professionals.”

According to provincial government data, the Southern Shore and St. Mary’s Bay lags slightly behind the metro area in terms of vaccinations.

Paradise and Conception Bay South both boast a vaccination rate of 100 percent, while Mount Pearl boasts a rate of 99.6 percent. Conception Bay Centre, which includes Holyrood, Harbour Main-Chapel’s Cove-Lakeview, Avondale, Conception Harbour, and Colliers, boasts a vaccination rate of 92.5 percent. Goulds and Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove boast a vaccination rate of 97.20 percent.

Meanwhile, the Southern Shore boasts a slightly lower vaccination rate of 89.8 percent, while 88 percent of folks in St. Mary’s Bay are fully vaccinated.

Notre Dame Bay has the province’s lowest vaccination rate. Some 85.7 percent of folks in that region are vaccinated.