The Corner Drug Store is hosting a second mass vaccination clinic at the Tantramar Civic Centre on Thursday, July 1.
The clinic will administer Moderna shots to over 500 people, says Corner Drug pharmacist-owner Charles Beaver. Hundreds of emails and text messages with booking links went out on Tuesday evening, he says.
Hear Charles Beaver in conversation:
Anyone who is registered for a Dose 2 Moderna shot at the Corner Drug, and had their first shot of a vaccine up to May 21, should have received an email or text to book their appointment.
Beaver says that anyone 18 and over who had their first shot with Corner Drug up to May 30 should have already received an email informing them that they are on the pharmacy’s Dose Two Moderna waiting list. For those who have not and feel they should have, Beaver suggests registering again for a Dose 2 Moderna shot on the Corner Drug website.
“It’s okay if someone registers twice on the Dose Two waitlist,” says Beaver. “They may receive two emails, but that’s okay, just use one.” Actual appointments for vaccinations are made once someone on the waitlist clicks the link to schedule an appointment, so there’s no harm in getting on the waitlist twice.
Beaver says there are several dozen people in the Corner Drug system dating to a first dose before May 11 which do not have an accurate email address or cell phone number attached. “We can’t text or email those individuals,” says Beaver, “so we’re doing the work of going through the list. But quite frankly, the phone doesn’t stop ringing long enough to call people at a rapid pace.”
Beaver encourages people NOT to call the Corner Drug directly if they have access to the internet either on their own or through friends and family.
Before Monday’s clinic, there were approximately 2000 people on the Corner Drug waitlist. On Monday, 443 received a Moderna dose, and Beaver says that after Thursday, he expects to have cleared most of the backlog of those waiting more than 28 days. “I think with this clinic, we will be caught up to the point where we can get to people not long after their 28-day time is up,” says Beaver, referring to the recommended 28-day waiting period between a first dose and a second dose.
Since it started vaccinating people on March 23, the Corner Drug has administered 4636 doses of vaccine, says Beaver.
Thursday’s clinic is happening thanks to an email Beaver received from Murielle Wade, assistant director of Public Health at Vitalité Health Network, just as the dust was settling after Monday’s clinic. Wade told Beaver she had several vaccinators as well as clerical staff that had volunteered to work a Canada Day clinic somewhere else, and that clinic was not going forward, and she wondered if Beaver thought he could put them to work in Sackville.
“I said, I sure will do my best, and then had to make a lot of phone calls,” says Beaver. Step one was securing the civic centre for Thursday. “The town has been absolutely amazing,” he says. “Minutes after I proposed what I think might seem to a lot of people to be an absolutely crazy idea on a super tight timeline, I got a resounding yes from the town.”
Beaver also credits his staff with stepping up again on short notice, and on a holiday.
“My team are tired, but know this work has to get done,” says Beaver.
The clinic will also rely on volunteers from the Rotary Club of Sackville to help with ushering and sanitizing, as they did on Mondays clinic.
“The vaccine has been ordered just on time and it looks like we should be able to get this thing going for 9am on on Canada Day morning,” says Beaver.
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