KENORA – Residents of Kenora, Dryden, Fort Frances, Red Lake, Sioux Lookout, Atikokan and other Northwest communities can now book their flu and COVID-19 shots.
Influenza shots will be available to those at highest risk starting Oct. 10 and to the general public beginning Oct. 30. The Moderna Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine, which targets the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant, will be available in the region by mid-October.
Appointments for flu and COVID shots at Northwestern Health Unit immunization clinics can be booked online at the health unit’s website, nwhu.on.ca. The health unit’s main office can be reached for more information toll-free from anywhere in the region at 1-800-830-5978
Residents could also contact local pharmacies and health-care providers to inquire about getting a flu or COVID shot.
The vaccines are “important in protecting all of us,” Dr. Kit Young Hoon, the health unit’s medical officer of health, said Friday.
Influenza cases in the region are expected to rise in the coming months as in past years, she said.
Southern Ontario has recently seen a rise in COVID-19 infections, Young Hoon noted. “So likely we’re going to see an increase relatively soon here. How big it will be is hard to predict.”
She said information on the XBB.1.15 subvariant is still relatively limited, but “what we do know is that the (new) vaccine does have good effectiveness against this particular strain, which is good news for us.”
Health Canada approved Moderna’s Spikevax on Sept. 12. A new vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech that also targets the XBB.1.5 COVID subvariant got federal approval this week.
