Fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be administered at city-run long-term care homes this week

The City of Toronto says starting today it will begin running clinics at city-run long-term care homes to administer fourth doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to eligible residents.

The clinics are operated in partnership with Michael Garron Hospital and the first round of shots will be administered to 131 eligible residents at True Davidson Acres on Dawes Road.

Five other city-operated long-term care homes will host fourth-dose clinics later this week, including Wychwood Towers, Fudger House, Kipling Acres, Wesburn Manor, and Seven Oaks. Clinics at Bendale Acres, Carefree Lodge, Cummer Lodge, and Lakeshore Lodge are expected to be booked in the coming days.

Last week, the province announced that it would be making fourth doses available to long-term care and retirement home residents who received their third dose at least three months ago.

The Ontario government has also made it mandatory for staff at these facilities to have three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The city says there are more than 1,800 residents in the city’s 10 long-term care homes who meet the eligibility criteria for a fourth dose.

“With this highly transmissible variant of COVID-19, it’s imperative that the city does what it can to help protect the residents in our long-term care homes as much as possible. We are working at wartime speed to deliver a fourth dose of the vaccine for LTC residents in conjunction with the health and safety measures implemented by city staff,” Mayor John Tory said in a written statement released Thursday.

COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed in the province over the past month due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. This has prompted the province to implement stricter public health measures in long-term care, including banning general visitors, allowing only two designated caregivers to visit residents.

According to the latest data released by the province, there are at least 254 ongoing outbreaks of COVID-19 in long-term care homes in Ontario. Six residents of long-term care homes in the province have died of COVID-19 in the past week.

“Many of these individuals are now likely becoming increasingly more susceptible to COVID-19 infection due to waning immunity from their previous doses,” Dr. Kieran Moore told reporters at a news conference last week.