Toronto to close five COVID-19 vaccination clinics as it shifts focus to mobile teams
Toronto will close five of its mass immunization clinics and redeploy hundreds of staff to mobile teams in an effort to reach residents in areas of the city with lower vaccination rates.
More than 71 per cent of Torontonians have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine but the uptake fluctuates depending on neighbourhood.
For example, in Taylor-Massey in the city’s east end just 53.1 per cent of residents have received at least one dose and in Thorncliffe Park only 56.8 per cent of residents have gotten their first shot.
The divide has prompted the city to pour additional resources into hyper-local vaccine campaigns in recent weeks, including a series of pop-up events at grocery stores and shopping plazas in the Taylor-Massey neighbourhood planned for this coming weekend.
But with demand continuing to slow down at some of the city’s mass vaccination clinics, the city now plans to shift even more resources into local outreach.
During a regularly scheduled briefing on Wednesday, Mayor John Tory confirmed that the city will close five of its nine mass vaccination clinics (Carmine Stefano Community Centre, Malvern Community Recreation Centre, Mitchell Field Arena, North Toronto Memorial Community Centre, Toronto Congress Centre) at the end of the day on Aug. 22 and redeploy 700 staff.
He said that in doing so the city hopes to be able to increase the number of mobile clinic teams from five to 22.
The four remaining mass immunization clinics at Cloverdale Mall, the Hangar, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and the Scarborough Town Centre will continue too operate until “further notice,” according to the city.
“Our mass immunization clinics have served us well and have gotten us to this point in our vaccination campaign where we have over 80 per cent of those eligible who have at least one dose so we know that we have had some success to date but we also know that in order to continue to get vaccine coverage up in those areas and in those populations in the city where we need to see more coverage we actually have to bring the vaccines to them,” Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa told reporters on Wednesday.
“As of August 23rd we will have five times the number of mobile clinic teams that are currently administering vaccines across the city. This will allow us to bring vaccines directly into workplaces and into communities and organizations who are experiencing low vaccine uptake.”
Most of Toronto’s mass vaccination clinics have been operating since March.
They were initially open on an appointment-only basis but the city began accepting walk-ins at the clinics earlier this month as supply started to outstrip demand for the first time.
The clinics have administered more than one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine but in recent weeks thousands of appointments have went unbooked each week.
Fire Chief Matthew Pegg, who is the chair of Toronto’s vaccine task force, said that the success of the clinics has effectively paved the way for the city to enter “the next phase of its vaccination program,” one that will be increasingly focused on “hyperlocal mobile vaccine team deployments.”
“This will allow us to be increasingly nimble and it will allow us to bring vaccine to people instead of relying on what has been the backbone, if you will, throughout our response which is having people come to clinics,” Pegg said.
The closure of five mass vaccination clinics in Toronto comes on the heels of Peel Public Health announcing that they would close two of their clinics to similarly focus on local outreach.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.