The Central Lambton Family Health Team in Petrolia will be vaccinating some patients against COVID-19 in the next couple of days.

The province has faced criticism for leaving family doctors out of the initial vaccine rollout, particularly after photos of 80 year olds waiting outside in the snow for a vaccine in Ottawa surfaced. Many doctors argued they successfully immunize people against the flu each year and could have easily ramped up for COVID-19 vaccines.

Over the weekend, the province contacted six regions to start a pilot project with family doctors. Executive Director Sarah Milner says the health team was one of the few family physician groups asked to help roll out the Moderna vaccine to patients.

Milner says the doctors spent the weekend combing through charts of their 15,000 patients to seek out candidates for a vaccine.

“They flagged a bunch of their patients from each roster to be contacted. So reception has been calling people and they booked for today (Monday) and they’re booking for tomorrow, in the afternoon for some doses. And then Wednesday, all day, we’re doing the remaining doses and finishing up,” says Milner

The CLFHT has “a couple hundred” doses to use in the next three days.

“Over the weekend we’ve been working hard and scrambling,” says Milner. She and the staff were coming up with the logistics of how to move patients through the building.

Milner says the office phones have been turned off for the day as the office prepares for the roll out. The phones and the office will also close Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday to vaccinate patients.