Pop-up clinics at Southlake gave employees chance to receive COVID-19 vaccine

Bradford resident and health-care worker Kira Pereira was happy to be able to receive her COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday at Southlake Regional Health Centre.

Pereira has been an employee of the hospital for 18 years, working as a data entry clerk in the surgical program. 

When it was Pereira's turn to get the vaccine at the pop-up clinic for employees, she didn't hesitate to roll up her sleeve. 

"I decided to get the vaccination because I want to protect myself, my family and my friends from the virus," she said, "I want to get back to some sort of normalcy." 

It has been a tough year for Pereira. After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019 and undergoing a lengthy treatment and recovery, she was finally well enough to go back to work in January 2020. 

A whole year of her life she said was put on hold, and she was excited to get back to work and live her life again. 

But then COVID hit, and she felt like her life was put on hold once again. 

Having two young boys at home, with her vulnerable mother looking after them, made Pereira even more anxious about catching the virus. She was relieved and feels lucky to be one of the first in the province to get her vaccine. 

"It feels great to have this process started and hopefully encourages others to do the same," she said. 

Pereira will get her second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in three weeks. 

And although she will be one of the few in the province already vaccinated, she says she will continue to do her part wearing a mask, social distancing and following all public health guidelines. 

"I didn't feel a thing," she said about the injection, "I still need to go back for my second dose and I imagine it will be much the same as the first."

Southlake will continue vaccinating its staff, including non-frontline employees, as well as workers from Markham Stouffville and Stevenson Memorial hospitals, at the vaccination centre that opened at Ray Twinney Recreation Complex yesterday.  

Southlake had administered about 3,800 doses of the vaccine, according to spokesperson Matt Haggerty, with that expected to increase to about 1,000 vaccinations per day by the end of the week at the new centre.

— With files from Debora Kelly