Team Toronto has administered more than 158,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to kids aged five to 11 years. This means that approximately 54 per cent of children in this age group have received at least one dose of the vaccine. To date, Team Toronto has also held more than 436 school-based clinics across the city.
The Team Toronto Kids vaccination effort began on November 23, when appointments were made available for this age group to book on the provincial booking system. The vaccination campaign emphasizes a multi-pronged clinic model of City of Toronto-run mass immunization clinics, hospital clinics, pharmacies, primary care providers and school-based clinics.
As part of the campaign, Toronto Public Health (TPH) used a needs-based and equity data analysis approach to identify 34 initial neighbourhoods of focus that would benefit from a locally-specific strategy during the initial rollout of the school-based clinics. To further support vaccination uptake, Team Toronto continues to host education sessions, webinars, and town halls for parents and guardians, newcomers, physicians, community agencies and ambassadors. More than 140 webinars have been held for parents and caregivers to encourage vaccination uptake for this age group, and more than 100,000 participants have tuned into two telephone town halls hosted by medical professionals. The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) has also hosted more than 1,100 individual consultations with parents and caregivers.
In addition to fixed-site vaccination clinics, Team Toronto continues to accelerate and expand school-based clinics across the city to increase vaccination uptake across all age groups. Approximately 90 school-based clinics have been held in the past two weeks, resulting in continued improvement in the overall vaccination rate. During this time, for example, first dose coverage has increased by more than five percentage points in three neighbourhoods of focus – Elms-Old Rexdale, Malvern, and Scarborough Village. By comparison, the City’s overall first dose rate has increased by an average of two percentage points during the same time period.
Since the start of Team Toronto’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign in December 2020, the campaign has been a city-wide effort using all resources available to ensure vaccines are accessible to all residents. The campaign has been made possible with the partnership of TPH, the City, local school boards, Toronto hospitals, Ontario Health Teams (OHTs), local health care organizations, more than 155 community organizations, family health teams, pediatricians, pharmacies and social service providers.
As the Omicron variant continues to circulate in the community, all residents are encouraged to receive their first, second or third dose of vaccine as soon as possible. COVID-19 vaccines are also available for anyone five years of age and older, including third doses for those aged 18 and older. Vaccinations are available through Team Toronto fixed-site and mobile clinics, as well as through participating primary care providers and at more than 525 local pharmacies
More information on vaccines, bookings and other matters relating to COVID-19 is available here
Quotes:
“Our Team Toronto Kids COVID-19 vaccination plan has worked to help deliver more than 158,000 vaccine doses for kids over the last 10 weeks. That work is continuing and we want to make sure we are helping every kid, everywhere in our city get vaccinated. This helps protect kids and it helps protect the progress we have made getting back to in-class learning. Thank you to every member of Team Toronto working to help families get vaccinated and thank you to all the families who have already made sure they have the best protection possible by getting vaccinated.”
– Mayor John Tory
“Team Toronto continues to work hard to continue to remove barriers to COVID-19 vaccines, including for some of our youngest residents. A huge thank you to my colleagues at Toronto Public Health and all our Team Toronto partners who have worked tirelessly for more than a year to get people vaccinated. If you have not gotten vaccinated yet, please book your appointment for your first, second or third dose to ensure you can be fully protected from serious consequences linked to COVID-19. The vaccine has been scientifically proven to be safe and effective against COVID-19 with millions of doses administered around the world.”
– Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health
“Team Toronto Kids – the largest youth vaccination campaign in our country’s history – continues. Reaching 54 per cent of five- to 11 year-olds with their first dose in just 10 weeks is good progress, but there’s still work to do. By prioritizing hyper-local outreach and clinics in targeted neighbourhoods with lower vaccination rates, we can ensure that vaccines are accessible for every child and family across our city.”
– Councillor Joe Cressy (Spadina-Fort York), Chair of Toronto Board 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.
Media contact: Toronto Public Health Media Relations, tphmedia@toronto.ca