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
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
'Sophisticated' cyberattacks detected on B.C. government networks, premier says
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Canucks claw out 5-4 comeback win over Oilers in Game 1
Dakota Joshua had a goal and two assists and the Vancouver Canucks scored three third-period goals to claw out a 5-4 comeback victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series Wednesday.
Nijjar murder suspect says he had Canadian study permit in immigration firm's video
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.