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
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.
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.
'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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.