'We're trying to beat time': Mobile vaccination team hits Toronto streets
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.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
One dead, 26 wounded in overnight shooting in Ohio: reports
A shooting on a street in Akron, Ohio, killed one man and wounded 26 other people early Sunday morning, according to reports by local news outlets.
Ambassador says interactions with Russia 'quite limited' but 'not unfriendly'
Canada's ambassador to Russia says while Ottawa has 'grave concerns' about the Kremlin's 'longer-term trends,' the war in Ukraine is 'a primary barrier to a change in the relationship.'
Bathroom break nearly derails $22 million project at city council meeting
A brief break during Wednesday's city council meeting in Saskatoon nearly cost the city dearly.
South Korea vows 'unbearable' retaliation against North Korea over its launch of trash balloons
South Korea said Sunday it’ll soon take retaliatory steps against North Korea over its launch of trash-carrying balloons across the border and other provocations.
Lanny McDonald and a few old Flames take the Stanley Cup on a surprise visit to the man who saved his life
The Stanley Cup was passing through town Friday, and Lanny Legend took it upon himself to take it for a surprise visit.
Chad Daybell sentenced to death for killing wife and girlfriend’s two children in jury decision
Jurors resumed deliberations Saturday on whether a man should be sentenced to death after being convicted days earlier of the murders of his wife and his girlfriend’s two youngest children in Idaho.
Mass parachute jump over Normandy kicks off commemorations for the 80th anniversary of D-Day
Parachutists jumping from Second World War-era planes hurled themselves Sunday into now peaceful Normandy skies where war once raged, heralding a week of ceremonies for the fast-disappearing generation of Allied troops who fought from D-Day beaches 80 years ago.
Robert Pickton stabbed with toothbrush and broken broom handle: victim's family
The family of one of Robert Pickton's victims says the convicted serial killer suffered an incredibly violent death at the hands of another inmate.
Father who killed one-year-old son with axe may be allowed to travel in southwestern Ontario
A Mennonite father who killed his one-year-old son with an axe may be allowed to travel to parts of southern Ontario in the coming months