Thibedeau, 18, said he been working out at a fitness club in the Cobble Hill commercial complex and saw the van when he went to do his grocery shopping.
He said he just hadn’t gotten around to having a shot before. “I haven’t had the time,” he said.
The idea of the Vax Van is to provide first doses to anyone who wants them, said Dr. Mike Benusic, an Island Health medical health officer and the lead physician for COVID-19 vaccination.
While about 80 per cent of the eligible population has received a first dose, there are pockets of lower vaccination rates in Greater Nanaimo and the Cowichan area, he said. “So that’s why we’re taking the Vax Van there, to make sure people have full access to vaccines.”