KITCHENER -- A pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinic has opened for Waterloo Region residents at 99 Regina St.

The clinic, which is sponsored by the province, opened Thursday and will run through Saturday. More pop-up clinics are planned for the coming weeks and provincial officials said the clinics will be staffed by the Canadian Red Cross.

“Vaccines are the best way to defeat COVID-19 and every dose administered in Waterloo Region is another step towards the end of the pandemic,” Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Mike Harris said in a news release. “This is another example of how the Ontario government is working with Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services to get vaccines administered to stop the spread of this virus in our community and move safely and cautiously ahead with reopening.”

The province said more than 18,000 vaccines doses on top of the population-based allocation have been sent to Waterloo Region to help combat the spread of the Delta variant in the community. Accelerated second dose eligibility opened for anyone vaccinated on or before May 30 on Wednesday.

“We are in a race against time and the variant,” Chair Karen Redman said in the release. “Thank you to the Government of Ontario for providing additional capacity so that we can increase vaccinations in our community.”

Starting June 28, second dose eligibility will open to anyone who received a first dose of Pfizer or Moderna at least 28 days prior. People who received AstraZeneca will be able to receive a second dose eight weeks after their first.

The Cambridge Pinebush clinic is also opening up late night appointments on Friday, from 8 p.m. to midnight.