The City of Toronto continues to respond to COVID-19. Today, Mayor John Tory, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa and Fire Chief and General Manager of the Office of Emergency Management Matthew Pegg provided an update on the Team Toronto effort to vaccinate as many people in Toronto as quickly as possible.
Mayor Tory today confirmed that more than 20 per cent of Torontonians have started vaccination – meaning one in five residents have now received at least their first dose. As of last night, more than 758,882 doses have been administered so far in Toronto.
City-run immunization clinics are operating at or near capacity based on vaccine supply for the next week. Over the weekend – with eligibility expanded to people age 50 and older in hot spot neighbourhoods – 74,185 people registered for vaccination appointments at City-operated clinics.
While the City and Toronto Public Health are committed to sharing as much information as possible about Team Toronto vaccination efforts, some neighbourhood-specific clinic information is not being shared widely at this time. Hospital and community partners intentionally promote location-specific, mobile clinics to the specific sites and communities that the clinic is meant to serve. The clinics operate in locations determined by the Healthcare Leadership Table, bringing COVID-19 vaccine into high-risk neighbourhoods, rather than serving people from outside the community looking to travel to the clinics.
Pop-up and mobile clinics are brought to the attention of eligible local residents directly through primary care physicians like family doctors, employers, building managers, faith leaders and other local leaders, who are directly connected with the people the mobile clinics will serve.
Since the start of the pandemic there have been a total of 125,497 cases of COVID-19 in the city, an increase of 1,296 new cases today. There are 632 people hospitalized. To date, there have been 2,867 COVID-19 deaths in Toronto. In total, 111,043 people have recovered. Case status data can be found on the Toronto Public Health’s reporting dashboard.
Toronto, like all Ontario municipalities, is in the Shutdown Zone of the Province of Ontario’s COVID-19 response framework and subject to a provincial Stay-at-Home order. Everyone in the city should be staying home except for essential reasons such as going out for groceries or exercise and being sure to stay as close to home as possible. Please review the City’s COVID-19: Guide for Residents for information on what is and is not permitted under provincial regulations and City bylaws.
Toronto is home to more than 2.9 million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture and innovation, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit the City’s website or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.