Schools closing prematurely this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant students who usually receive spring-time immunizations at school didn’t.
The Public Health teams in North Battleford, Lloydminster, Meadow Lake and rural communities in between decided an efficient way to address the issue would be to hold mass immunization events for grades 6 and 8 students. First out of the gate, Lloydminster Public Health took worked with the Lloydminster Public School Division and Lloydminster Catholic School Division to provide a drive-thru model based on the COVID-19 Mass Testing event held for healthcare workers in early May.
Screening tent where student and others in the vehicle were screened and provided with masks.
From June 8-16, about 78 per cent of the approximately 800 students received their Grade 6 or Grade 8 immunizations at the event.
“Our Public Health Care team set up the event based on our successful mass-testing event we held for health care workers and physicians in May,” reported Jody Mayer, manager of the Primary Health Care team at Prairie North Plaza in Lloydminster.
As they did for the mass-testing clinic, the City of Lloydminster offered the Centennial Civic Centre as the site for the immunization event. Atco, a natural gas company, provided a tent for the screening stations. The event was further supported by the Lloydminster Regional Health Foundation and both school divisions, which contacted and scheduled the students.
The public health nurses provided the immunizations, supported by Primary Health and Pediatric Therapies staff.
“It was a great team effort,” Mayer said. “Many parents expressed their gratitude, and how much they liked the drive-thru process for its efficiency and accessibility.”