This won’t come as good news to some people.
Belleville city council will again offer up the Family Dental Centre Arena at the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre as a mass vaccination clinic whenever it’s needed.
Hastings-Prince Edward Public Health has asked council to use the arena so it can vaccinate kids between the ages of 5 and 11 as soon as province gives final approval to do so.
Mayor Mitch Panciuk says some people are complaining and some adult users will lose ice time.
“That does mean that we will have two recreational ice pads available still and we’ll make it work if everyone is willing to work with us but the most important thing for us to do, and the right thing to do, is to vaccinate our residents and we can do up to 2,000 a day at the super clinic.”
The health unit says the arena could be in use for two months, enough time to finish the inoculation of kids 5 to 11 years of age.
Mayor Panciuk, meanwhile, warned that the COVID-19 pandemic has been and continues to be unpredictable and that the arena could be needed for even longer, citing the possibility of booster shots being mandated in the not too distant future.
