The City of Toronto is receiving provincial funding to expand its efforts to vaccinate against COVID-19 this month, according to Toronto Mayor John Tory at a recent press conference.
The Ontario government will provide about $76 million to help Toronto continue its mobile vaccination clinics and prepare pending vaccinations for children five to 11, as well as third booster shots for fully vaccinated individuals.
Tory announced that 84 per cent of all eligible residents are fully vaccinated, with about 87 per cent having received at least their first dose.
"We continue to make progress getting people vaccinated," Tory said. "I want to thank the more than 84 per cent of eligible residents who have stepped up to get two COVID-19 vaccine doses. I also want to thank everyone involved in the Team Toronto effort that has administered more than 4.9 million doses of vaccine so far. This is great work but we must keep going and help more residents get vaccinated so we can truly bring this pandemic to an end."
Vaccinations for children are still pending approval from Public Health, with Pfizer the only approved vaccine for individuals 12 to17 so far, and will be for children between five and 11.
For the booster shots, the city will provide Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. These shots will go back to online bookings, according to Tory. Approximately 40,000 appointments will be available starting on Nov. 6.
The next steps for Team Toronto, the task force heading the mobile clinics, are continued efforts in high traffic areas around the city this weekend, and to set up super supportive clinics for individuals who:
- Have a fear of needles
- Need to sit down while waiting
- Need a quiet space
- Need a companion
- And who need an American Sign Language interpreter
Last month, Tory and Chief of Public Health Dr. Eileen de Villa said the city’s next milestone is to get 90 per cent of all eligible residents fully vaccinated.
The city will continue to expand the vaccine plans as more approvals and supply roll outs continues in the next two months.
More details to come.
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