The City of Toronto is urging all Torontonians due or overdue for a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine to get their second dose as soon as possible. Youth 12 and older and adults who received a first dose of mRNA vaccine (Moderna or Pfizer) 28 days ago and adults who received a first AstraZeneca dose eight weeks ago are eligible for a second dose now.
Toronto Public Health is now reporting 193,530 people in Toronto are eligible immediately for a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Team Toronto is making progress getting second doses to eligible residents; Toronto Public Health reported around 350,000 people in Toronto were eligible for a second dose at the end of July.
Getting both doses of vaccine is the best defense against the virus, including the Delta variant. Toronto Public Health and partners are working to spread this message: calling, texting and e-mailing all residents who are eligible for their second dose to get their vaccine as soon as possible.
The City and Team Toronto are doing everything they can to get needles in arms. Between the nine City-run vaccination clinics, there is capacity to vaccinate thousands of walk-ins every day between noon and 7 p.m. The City also continues to reach out to communities with low vaccination rates and support hyper-local Home Stretch Vaccine Push pop-up clinics.
To help break down barriers to vaccine access and communicate resources and information to equity-deserving and hard-to-reach groups across Toronto, the City established Vaccine Engagement Teams, made up of 150 community agencies and 280 neighbourhood ambassadors. These teams have been an effective, customized approach to connecting with people in their own community, in their language, in a culturally relevant manner, to help remove barriers that are keeping residents from being vaccinated. To leverage expertise and enhance this community-based approach, focused advisory groups were established to increase engagement and address high rates of COVID-19 and low vaccine uptake, including the Black Scientists Task Force on Vaccine Equity, the Accessibility Task Force and the Toronto Youth Vaccine Advisory Committee.
The City’s VaxTO campaign, which launched on May 26, has helped connect thousands of residents with COVID-19 vaccination information and resources through a variety of targeted and multilingual outreach methods including texts, emails, telephone town halls, voice broadcasts, call centre outreach and digital advertising. It has also helped promote the latest Team Toronto Home Stretch Vaccine Push initiatives, which have focused on setting up hyper-local mobile pop-up clinics in targeted areas of the city experiencing lower vaccine uptake.
To date, over one million interactive voice broadcast messages have been delivered in seven different languages to phone numbers across the city to share vaccine and town hall information. More than 10,000 residents have been reached through the VaxTO call centre and over 17,000 messages have been sent to the text line, which offers 14 language options and a postal code look-up that provides residents with a list of their nearest City-run vaccination clinics and pharmacies. Additionally, six telephone town halls have been hosted with more being scheduled for later this summer.
Quotes:
“We have had tremendous success getting people vaccinated across Toronto with more than 2 million residents now fully vaccinated but we know we have more vaccinations to do. We are working to make sure people who haven’t had their second shot yet get it as soon as possible to help protect them from COVID-19 and the Delta variant. Team Toronto is also working non-stop to help people who haven’t yet had their first shot. Getting the COVID-19 vaccine is the right thing to do for you and your loved ones and it will help protect the progress we have made fighting COVID-19 and reopening our city. If you are eligible to get your second shot, please get it as soon as possible. If you still need your first shot, please visit our City-run clinics where walk-ins are welcome or visit a pop-up site in your neighbourhood.”
– Mayor John Tory
“All across our city, people have stepped up – over 2 million Torontonians are now fully vaccinated. Getting both doses of vaccine is the best way for people to protect themselves and their communities from the Delta variant, which is why we’re encouraging anyone who is waiting on their second dose to get their shot as soon as they are eligible. With walk-ins available at all our City-run clinics, as well as pop-up sites in neighbourhoods through our Home Stretch Vaccine Push, we’re committed to breaking down every barrier and building every bridge to vaccination.”
– Councillor Joe Cressy (Spadina-Fort York), Chair of the Toronto Board of Health
“COVID-19 continues to circulate in Toronto, most commonly as the Delta variant which is more transmissible, has been associated with more severe illness, and requires two doses of vaccine for the best protection. We’ve made tremendous progress with our vaccination campaign and we continue to take every step possible to make sure that residents can get fully vaccinated as quickly and conveniently as possible. The higher the rate of fully vaccinated people in our city, the safer we will all be, and I encourage everyone who is eligible for their second dose to get your vaccine as soon as you are able and take advantage of the peace of mind and real protection that being fully vaccinated provides.”
– Dr. Eileen de Villa, Medical Officer of Health
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.