District of Squamish supports Vancouver Coastal Health with COVID-19 vaccination clinics

The District of Squamish is working with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) to provide facilities for the upcoming COVID-19 vaccination clinics. The 55 Activity Centre will be used for the vaccination of seniors age 80+ beginning March 15.

Beginning today, Monday, March 8, phone lines will open for Squamish and Sea to Sky seniors age 80 and over to book COVID-19 vaccination appointments.

“There is an unprecedented need for mass vaccination facilities over the coming months, and we are very pleased to work in partnership with VCH and to play a role in the significant effort being made across the entire province as we all join forces to help us emerge from the pandemic,” says District of Squamish Mayor, Karen Elliott.

The provincial strategy for vaccination rollout involves a number of mass immunization sites which will serve larger regions, and be complemented by pop-up clinics in smaller communities.  Squamish has been designated as a mass immunization site to serve the area. The District is working to support VCH to obtain a larger facility for mass vaccination clinics beyond the ones for seniors over age 80, details of which will be announced in the coming weeks. 

With the recent announcements of the approval for use of two additional vaccines, the provincial vaccine roll-out plan has ramped up considerably in terms of expedited timelines and increased scale. 

The District’s Emergency Program will provide cots, blankets and community contacts to support the VCH effort.

Key Facts and Links:

Vaccination will be done by age. People should only call to make vaccination appointments when their age group is eligible to avoid overloading the call centre. More information is available on the VCH Website.

Beginning Monday, March 8, Squamish seniors age 80 and over can call to book an appointment. The phone number to call is: 1-877-587-5767. Vaccinations will take place at The 55 Activity Centre.

As part of the provincial strategy, restrictions will not be put in place on where people can get vaccinated, in order to be as flexible as possible and meet the goal of vaccinating all communities as quickly as possible.  For example, this provides an opportunity for Squamish residents who commute to the Lower Mainland to make an appointment at a clinic close to their home or their workplace, for convenience and accessibility. Lower Mainland residents are also able to choose Squamish as their vaccination location. This will help achieve the goal of lifting current COVID-19 gathering restrictions across the province as quickly as possible. 

Squamish Nation has provided vaccination information to its community members here: https://www.squamish.net/snvaccine/

The primary source for residents to access the most up-to-date information, including how to book an appointment for a vaccination, is the Vancouver Coastal Health website.

March 8, 2021