Toronto residents can now book a flu shot appointment for next week at select clinics
Toronto residents can book their appointment for a flu shot at one of the city’s five mass vaccination clinics starting today.
The Doug Ford government has said that it has secured 7.6 million doses of the vaccine this year, representing an approximately 22 per cent increase from last year.
About 40 per cent of the doses will go to pharmacies with the rest set aside for primary care doctors and public health units.
Speaking with CP24 on Wednesday, Toronto’s Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vinita Dubey said that the city had an “unheard” of six reported cases of the flu last year but is expecting a significant increase this flu season due to the lifting of most public health restrictions that were in effect last fall and winter.
“Already in Ontario we've had five or six cases to date. So there's no question that we're already starting to see it here. It's already spreading,” she said. “We also know that other viruses are spreading. Many people have noted that they've gotten a cold this year where they may not have had one last year. So we certainly know that being out and about and mixing is going to spread the other viruses and will also spread the flu.”
The city has already begun offering the flu shot to under-housed individuals in shelters and drop-in facilities but appointments at its mass vaccination clinics won’t begin until next Tuesday.
As of noon there were still hundreds of available appointments listed on the city’s website for all five clinic locations next week.
The facilities are all operating on an appointment-only basis, though there is no need to produce an OHIP card to get a flu shot.
“Flu vaccine is one of those vaccines that we know you actually need to get every year as the strains of flu that circulate change. The immunity from the flu vaccine tends not to last beyond a year so you really do need to get the vaccine every year,” Dubey told CP24.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization has said that anyone who is not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely get that vaccine alongside the flu shot without any complications.
The city’s flu shot vaccine clinics are located at Woodbine Mall, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Cloverdale Mall, the Scarborough Town Centre and Mitchell Field Community Centre.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.