A COVID-19 vaccination clinic for thousands of workers at a southern Alberta beef-packing plant has been postponed due to a lack of vaccine.
Immunization at the Cargill plant was introduced as part of Phase 2C of the province’s vaccine roll-out plan in early April.
The clinic, which was scheduled to open Thursday, was to immunize 2,200 workers at the plant near High River, Alta. south of Calgary.
“The Cargill vaccination clinic hasn’t been cancelled — it’s been postponed,” said Tom McMillan, a spokesman with Alberta Health. “The shipment of Moderna vaccine that was to be given at Cargill was delayed.”
McMillan said the clinic will be rescheduled as soon as the vaccine becomes available.
Last spring, nearly half the workers at the Cargill plant contracted the novel coronavirus and two employees died. The meat-packer shut down for two weeks.
“We are disappointed with the news that our vaccine clinic has been postponed, but remain ready to help facilitate vaccines for our employees once they are available,” Cargill spokesman Daniel Sullivan said in a statement.
“We’re optimistic that vaccines will play a critical role in slowing and stopping the devastating impacts of COVID-19 across the globe.”
