drive-thru, bike-thru vaccine clinic opening at montreal race track
the gilles villeneuve racetrack will welcome a race of another kind: the rush for herd immunity.
may 20 2021
3 minute read
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by: jason magder
normally at this time of year, the paddocks, or garages, leading to the circuit gilles villeneuve race track would be filled with drivers, mechanics and some of the fastest cars in the world.
but starting in a week from saturday and for three weekends, the sheltered area near the track will welcome a race of another kind: the rush for herd immunity. the track will administer covid-19 vaccines at a rate of nearly 200 per hour for a total of 1,000 per day. it’s the second drive-in clinic in montreal: the other
at trudeau airport and can vaccinate up to 4,000 per day.
“we have a goal to finish the first dose of vaccination by june 24, so this will help us get to that goal,” said marie-ève brunelle, the director of vaccination for the ciusss centre-sud-de-l’île-de-montréal.
on may 29 and 30, the site will be reserved for cyclists to ride up and get a dose of the pfizer vaccine, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the following two weekends, drivers can also come by for drive-thru vaccination, on the same schedule. it’s likely to be a festive atmosphere, with djs playing tunes, grand prix cars decorating the space and projections of past races.
there will be 16 lanes for bikes and 20 for cars, with 60 people working, among them 16 vaccine injectors, 16 evaluators, and two nurse clinicians.
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the vaccination clinic was made possible because of the cancellation of this year’s grand prix race, and an offer by formula 1 canada president françois dumontier to lend out the site to the province.
those arriving by car must book appointments on the province’s vaccination website,
. anyone cycling in can get vaccinated with or without an appointment.
speaking to reporters at the site, health minister christian dubé said he had high hopes that montreal could qualify as one of the regions that go from red to orange status in two weeks. on tuesday, quebec premier françois legault said he expects “the majority” of regions will qualify to have restrictions lifted.
“we said the majority of regions can go from red to orange status, and one of the reasons why i’m optimistic about montreal is that it seems that most people are following guidelines set out by the province’s public health department,” dubé said. “i ask them to keep following the rules.”
he added that he’s also optimistic the province will reach its goal of vaccinating 75 per cent of quebecers with two doses by the end of august.
“we’re able to see some predictability with the vaccine delivery, and we saw there was a big increase in deliveries since the beginning of may,” he said. “we even think we’ll be able to move people up who have appointments, to do them sooner.”
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brunelle said there is nothing stopping people from trying to get vaccinated with a second dose earlier than their appointments. she said people can check their local pharmacies, because some may have some vaccine left at the end of the day.
“the important thing is not to lose these doses when they’re left over at the end of the day,” she said. “once the vials are open, all the doses have to be used within a few hours.”
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