Halifax drive-thru clinic aims to make immigrants 'feel safe' getting vaccine
More than 500 people were booked to move through the clinic Saturday
A unique Halifax drive-thru Saturday saw hundreds of people agree to be vaccinated for COVID-19, although not always in English.
The Ummah Masjid mosque off Chebucto Road hosted the clinic throughout the day in partnership with the provincial health authority and a local pharmacy.
People walked, drove, and even took their bicycles through the clinic, and were usually done in a few minutes.
Anyone could book an appointment, but the event was especially aimed at immigrants, or those within the community who might not speak English.
Volunteers on hand spoke various languages, or patients could also use a phone interpretation service with more than 130 languages.
Noor Albadani, 18, of Bedford volunteered and spent the day showing drivers where to park and wait there for 15 minutes after getting vaccinated.
Albadani, whose first language is Arabic but also speaks English and Turkish, didn't have to use her interpretive skills Saturday but was happy to know people would not be lost in translation.
"It's better to be able to speak more than (one) language, and other people's language, to make them feel safe, I think," Albadani said.
Prachi Gaba was one of the people who got their shot at the clinic Saturday. Hindi is her first language, and while she didn't need interpretation she said it was great to see that was an option.
"Especially in medical terms, when you're getting something that is going inside of your body you really want to understand what's going on," Gaba said.
The mosque used social media to reach out to its community about the event, and also shared videos promoting the clinic in Arabic.
Clinics like this are especially important as recent numbers from Statistics Canada show immigrants are at a higher risk from the virus.
In the early months of the pandemic in Canada — from last March to July 4 — 8,323 deaths were assigned as directly attributable to COVID-19. During these months, some 25 per cent of the linked deaths were found to be of immigrants who landed in Canada between 1952 and 2018.
By comparison, the same population made up 22 per cent of the total Canadian population, according to the 2016 Census.
Imam Abdallah Yousri of Ummah Masjid said the idea for the vaccination event came out after a successful COVID-19 testing clinic at the mosque.
"It is mainly about having community members feeling comfortable coming and getting vaccinated at the place they already come to regularly," Yousri said as a steady stream of cars turned into the mosque's entrance.
"It is also a matter of trust within the community, with the community members ... taking this role is very important for us."
Yousri said they were also able to accommodate anyone with privacy concerns, with partitions set up off to the side of the clinic that any patients could use, or rooms within the mosque itself.
The clinic was fully booked with about 550 people expected to roll through the clinic on Saturday.
Yousri is hopeful they will be able to hold more vaccination events in the coming months, although no dates have been set yet.