There will soon be more ways to get a COVID-19 vaccine in Lambton.

Lambton’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Sudit Ranade, says public health will be offering walk in vaccine clinics at the Lambton Mall on Saturdays and he says a GO Transit Bus equipped as a mobile vaccine clinic will be making its way around Lambton in late October.

The converted Metrolinx bus has been travelling across the province in an effort to make vaccines accessible for all Ontarians. Each GO-VAXX bus operates as a fully functioning vaccine clinic, with the necessary supplies and trained staff to provide assistance to people and ensure vaccines are administered safely.

The bus will be at the Lambton Mall Oct. 29 from 1 pm to 7 pm, Oct. 30 at the Food Basics parking lot from 11 am to 5 pm, the Moore Sports Complex Oct. 31 from 11 am to 5 pm and the Petrolia Farmers Market Nov. 1 from 11 am to 5 pm.

The moves come as the number of people fully vaccinated against the virus inches toward 80 per cent of the population. Public health says 79.1 per cent of people over 12 are fully vaccinated and Ranade says about 100 people a day are being vaccinated right now.

The medical officer of health is hopeful that will be enough to stop the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant which “has largely supplanted most of the other variants as the predominant variant in circulation.

“Although the Ontario numbers are coming down, and that is reassuring, I think we have an ongoing question about the next couple of months and whether or not 80 per cent is sufficient to avoid a significant strain on the healthcare system,” Ranade told Lambton County councillors Wednesday morning.

“We’ve talked about that strain. We’ve talked about the issue that when there are too many people sick with COVID, it becomes challenging to care for the other folks and to provide routine acute care services. So I would say that at this point…I don’t have a clear answer on whether or not the coverage is sufficient to do that. It’s possible that what will happen if there will be a minor strain on the system and we’ll have averted a major strain on the system; that’s my best guess at this point.”

Today, there are 88 people ill with COVID-19 including seven people in hospital with the virus. Seven new cases were reported today. Ranade stressed to county councillors the number of COVID-19 cases would have been much higher without vaccination.