Orillia meat company serves up COVID-19 vaccines to its employees

An Orillia meat company made the unusual move of creating an in-house COVID-19 vaccination clinic for its employees

Leadbetter Foods will serve up COVID-19 booster shots to its 300 employees after weeks of planning.

“I never thought I would have to figure out what size gauge needle, and what syringe, and how to calculate out how many vaccines, how to set up a vaccine storage fridge, how to monitor it… We’ve mastered maybe a 200-page manual,” said Leadbetter Foods vice president of technical services, Doug Alexander.

 

“Leadbetter is even doing its own data entry after being trained by the Ministry of Health“ 

 

The company, best known for its cowboy steaks, aims to help protect workers and reduce work time lost while employees head to a clinic for their shot by bringing the vaccine to them.

Leadbetter is even doing its own data entry after being trained by the Ministry of Health.

And the unusual doesn’t end there.

The Orillia company enlisted help from a couple of roller derby players with the South Simcoe Rebel Rollers, for which Leadbetter Foods is a major sponsor.

On game night, Angela Armrister is known as ‘The Arm Breaker,’ but she’s also a nurse who helped administer vaccines at the makeshift clinic.

“It’s important when Doug needs us we’re there,” she said. “He’s such an amazing sponsor to us we agreed to volunteer as many nurses as we could find.”

Leadbetter is still looking for nurses to help in the coming days.