Sheridan College Brampton campus shuts down vaccine clinic after more than 35,000 doses

More than 35,000 COVID-19 vaccinations were administered by the time the final shot was given at Sheridan College’s CommUNITY COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Thursday, July 29.

A true community initiative, the clinic featured a collaboration among Sheridan, the Region of Peel, Indus Community Services, Punjabi Community Health Services, the Latin-American COVID-19 Task Force and the Government of Ontario.

Together, these organizations worked to reach under-vaccinated communities in the diverse neighbourhoods surrounding Sheridan’s Davis Campus in Brampton.

The clinic was designed to be welcoming and barrier-free, making vaccinations more accessible to the surrounding community within Peel – an area that has been hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout its operations, organizers engaged directly with local community members, connecting them to the clinic and volunteering to provide non-clinical support on site.

“We are beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to give back to the Peel community, and to have played a part in the largest mass vaccination effort in Canadian history,” said Karen LeMoine, Sheridan’s director of community engagement and stakeholder relations.

“The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has sharpened our focus on fostering health and wellness at Sheridan and its campus communities and, through working together with our community partners in the Region of Peel, we’re equipped to recognize opportunities for growth, collaboration and meaningful change.”

Operating initially as a first-dose clinic, the Sheridan site opened in late May, during the height of the pandemic’s third wave, and administered 9,424 doses in 17 days.

Following the close of the first dose clinic in mid-June, data from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences showed that L6Y – the targeted postal code — had achieved the highest percentage vaccine uptake in the entire Region of Peel.

The overwhelming response from the Peel community enabled organizers to extend the first dose clinic operations several times, host a Region of Peel capacity clinic from mid-June to mid-July, and launch a second-dose clinic which began on July 17.

“Finding trusted locations where clinics can be hosted is key to our vaccination efforts,” said Dr. Monica Hau, Peel’s associate medical officer of health.

“In Sheridan, we found not only a trusted location, but also partners who worked tirelessly to reach out into the community and provide a positive, welcoming space for people to get their vaccine. Such partnerships are critical, particularly as we enter the last mile of our vaccination journey.”