Toronto offering COVID-19 vaccines at select shopping malls this weekend

Shania Joseph watches as Agatha Emmanuel has a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine administered at a pop-up vaccine clinic in Toronto's Jane and Finch neighbourhood, in the M3N postal code, on Saturday, April 17, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston

TORONTO -

Those wanting to get a COVID-19 vaccine this weekend will be able to do so at one of numerous Toronto malls as part of a hyper-local mobile rollout by the city.

The new program, called #ShopAndVax, will bring COVID-19 vaccines to five shopping centres on Saturday and Sunday between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. Appointments are not necessary.

The shopping centres include:

• CF Fairview Mall – 1800 Sheppard Ave E.
• CF Sherway Gardens – 25 The West Mall
• CF Shops at Don Mills – 1090 Don Mills Rd.
• CF Toronto Eaton Centre – 220 Yonge St.
• Yorkdale Shopping Centre – 3401 Dufferin St.

A clinic will also be open at Woodbine Mall, located on Rexdale Boulevard, from Tuesday to Saturday each week. Toronto residents can get their first or second doses without an appointment at this location between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Speaking at Woodbine Mall Tuesday morning, Toronto Mayor John Tory said the city has shifted their strategy, targeting communities that may have a lower level of vaccination and where there is a higher risk of contracting COVID-19.

“It’s a place people know, it’s a place they can get to, and it’s a place that they visit quite often and those are all things that are pre-requisites to what we are doing nowadays to make it as easy as we can for people to get vaccinated,” Tory said of Woodbine Mall.

“We are laser focused on getting to that 90 per cent target that has been set as one that will really allow us to be more confident that we have taken this COVID-19 to where it needs to go, which is out of our lives.”

According to Toronto Public Health, about 79 per cent of residents 12 and older are fully vaccinated with two doses and nearly 85 per cent have initiated their first shot.