Toronto offers walk-in booster dose appointments for youth aged 12-17

Toronto Public Health (TPH) is now offering walk-in availability for third COVID-19 vaccine doses to residents aged 12 to 17 years old at all five city-run immunization clinics.

Children in this age group are eligible for a third dose if approximately six months or 168 days have passed since they received their second dose.

The announcement was made by Toronto Mayor John Tory alongside Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa Tuesday at a Scarborough vaccination clinic as part of the city’s #VAXTHEEAST campaign.

A day earlier, the Ontario government announced that children ages 12 to 17 would become eligible to book an appointment for a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine using the provincial booking portal as of Friday.

“Now that third doses have been expanded to include youth ages 12-17, our teams are ready to administer third doses and further protect residents in this city,” Tory said in a statement issued Tuesday.

“The vaccine has proven to be our way out of this pandemic, and we know that this is only possible if all of our residents are fully protected with all of their doses.”

According to the most recent data, approximately 94 per cent of Toronto residents ages 12 to 17 have received at least one dose of vaccine and 90 per cent have gotten two doses.

Of the approximately 162,500 residents in this age group who have received two doses of the vaccine, 106,500 are eligible for a third dose starting Tuesday.

City-run clinics operate Monday to Friday, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for walk-ins and booked appointments. The five locations are as follows:

• Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 225 Front. W., North Building, Lower Level, Constitution Hall, Room 107
• Cloverdale Mall, 250 The East Mall, located at the north end of the mall
• Scarborough Town Centre, 300 Borough Dr., located on the east side of the centre on the upper level, near Entrance 2
• Mitchell Field Community Centre, 89 Church Ave., located on the east side of the building in the gym
• Woodbine Mall, 500 Rexdale Blvd., located inside the Hudson’s Bay store

‘VARYING OPINIONS’

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, Infectious Diseases physician and scientist at the University of Toronto, told CP24 Tuesday morning he thinks Ontario “needs to be careful” entering this phase of vaccination efforts, highlighting that the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has not yet “opined” on general vaccinations for the 12 to 17 age group.

“I think you're going to find varying opinions within the medical, scientific and public health community and I think some parents will go out and get that third dose, while others might just wait and see,” he said.

Bogoch said one reason this age group might choose to receive a third dose is that it provides better protection against virus transmission and severe symptoms versus two doses.

However, youth or parents might opt to wait to receive a third dose, Bogoch says, due to the fact that “we know that the risk of morbidity or mortality in that age group [if infected with COVID-19] is extremely low after two doses of a vaccine.”

“Again, you cannot ignore the real but still very, very low risk of inflammation of the heart, also known as myocarditis, associated with the vaccine, so there's a lot to digest and we don't yet have guidance to suggest that this is a strongly recommended thing to do,” he said.

Both the Ontario government and Toronto Public Health have maintained that vaccination is key to curbing transmission of COVID-19, and preventing severe symptoms, hospitalization and death.

“Recent data from TPH shows that individuals with three doses of COVID-19 vaccine had the lowest hospitalization, intensive care unit admissions, and deaths over any other level of vaccination throughout the Omicron wave,” Dr. Eileen de Villa said Tuesday.

“I am urging all eligible residents to get their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, if they have not yet done so yet.”