'We're trying to beat time': Mobile vaccination team hits Toronto streets

TORONTO -

On a hot, humid day, Fred Henderson and Kofi Yeboah hover intensely over a chess board at Matty Eckler Park in Toronto’s east end. They’re mid-match, and the next move could make all the difference.

“You’re going to owe me some smokes,” quipped Henderson.

Their banter is unexpectedly interrupted by the sound of carts rattling over the jagged sidewalk leading to the concrete table where the two are seated.

“Have you been vaccinated yet?” asks someone from a distance.

The voice belongs to Ruth Reboldera, a nurse with Michael Garron Hospital. She’s accompanied by nearly a dozen of her health care colleagues who are walking the streets, offering doses of the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines to anyone willing, and eligible, to receive them.

“On average we’re getting 20-30 vaccines (administered) per day,” said Philip Anthony, manager of the East Toronto Mobile Vaccination Strategy at Michael Garron Hospital

“There’s a downstream effect to that. Every person who’s getting a vaccine is keeping their family and loved ones safer. Every little bit helps at this point in the campaign.”

Michael Garron’s mobile vaccination street team, which launched two weeks ago, comes as Canada enters its fourth wave of the pandemic, and amidst concerns that the highly-contagious Delta variant will wreak havoc on its already-burdened health care system and economy.

At the same time, Ontario is reporting its highest COVID-19 positivity rates in months, with the majority of cases affecting the unvaccinated.

Among those unvaccinated is Kofi Yeboah, who is curious enough to pause his chess game to ask questions of the mobile vaccination team. He is uncertain about the safety of vaccines.

“I want to know which vaccine you took, personally?” he asks Reboldera.

It’s situations like this where the street team shines, affording the luxury of long-form conversations not as well suited to mass vaccination clinics. After a few minutes of back-and-forth, Yeboah is assured enough to get his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

“I was hesitant at first,” he told CTV News Toronto. “I feel really good about it. I’ve been waiting this long, so this is my lucky day. I thank all these people. They’ve been so good to the community.”

Henderson, his chess opponent for the day, has just received his second dose, a great relief to him given the risk factors that come with his lifestyle. He describes himself as homeless, and distrustful of the city’s shelter system.

“For a long time I was cautious,” said Henderson, describing his feelings toward the vaccination process. “This is great, it’s so much better than having to walk two miles to Michael Garron.”

A few hundred metres from the park, the street team is knocking on doors of local businesses, offering on-the-spot vaccinations to the city’s working class. They find an eager participant in Rosita Dela Cruz. As the owner of Philippine Oriental Food Market, she’s been working six days a week since opening her store in 1972.

“This is amazing,” she said, moments after rolling up her sleeve for her second dose of the Pfizer mRNA vaccine. “I wasn’t expecting they were doing this door-to-door. I thought it was customers coming in.”

“For those who are hesitant, for those who have to work, this makes a difference,” says Reboldera. “We’re trying to beat time.”