Team Toronto vaccination Sprint Strategy getting results in 13 high priority postal codes, adding four more areas

Following a successful first two weeks rolling out the Toronto Sprint Strategy, the City of Toronto and Team Toronto vaccination partners continue to prioritize postal code areas with high rates of COVID-19 for mobile and pop-up clinic vaccinations.

The Sprint Strategy targeted 13 postal code areas last week and tripled the number of per-week doses available to the prioritized communities. Over the course of the week, vaccine coverage of adults age 18 and older in the 13 areas moved from approximately 12 per cent to more than 35 per cent. In the M1G and M1J postal codes, coverage moved from approximately 14 per cent to almost 45 per cent for those age 18 and older, surpassing the city-wide 36 per cent coverage for people age 18 and older during this time.

This week, 96,000 doses of vaccine have been allocated to the Sprint Strategy. Toronto Public Health and Team Toronto partners are prioritizing four new postal code areas in east Toronto for Sprint Strategy mobile and pop-up clinics: M1B, M1M, M1P and M1L. Parts of these postal codes have high neighbourhood-level case rates – COVID-19 infection rates per 100,000 surpassing the average across Toronto – and low vaccine coverage rates. Toronto Public Health estimates there are 88,000 unvaccinated people age 18 and older in the hardest hit parts of the four new postal code areas.

Postal code areas prioritized in the Sprint Strategy are now:

• M1B • M1G • M1J • M1L • M1M • M1P • M3J • M3K • M3M • M3N • M4H • M6M • M9L • M9M • M9N • M9V • M9W

Vaccination at community mobile or pop-up clinics is available to anyone age 18 or older in the 17 targeted areas. Hospital and community partners intentionally promote community clinics only to the specific neighbourhoods that the clinic is meant to serve. 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 community clinics will serve. It is usually not possible to book an appointment online or by phone for a pop-up or mobile clinic.

As of 8 a.m. this morning, anyone 18 or older living in one of the 53 Province of Ontario hot spot postal codes is eligible to book a vaccination appointment at a City-operated immunization clinic. All postal codes prioritized in the Toronto Sprint Strategy are also included on the provincial hot spot list and can book an appointment immediately at a City-operated clinic through the dark blue “Book a Vaccine” button on www.toronto.ca/covid-19 or by calling the provincial vaccine booking line at 1-833-943-3900. All appointments at City-operated clinics are booked in advance through the provincial booking system.

Today, the City opened approximately 20,000 additional first dose appointments for the week of May 10 and more than 180,000 appointments between May 17 and June 6 for City-operated immunization clinics. Eligible individuals can select from available appointment times in the provincial booking system at any of the nine City-operated clinics: 1. Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 277 Front St. W. 2. Toronto Congress Centre, 650 Dixon Rd. 3. Scarborough Town Centre, 300 Borough Dr. (in the old Sears store) 4. Malvern Community Recreation Centre, 30 Sewells Rd. 5. Mitchell Field Arena, 89 Church Ave. (west side of the complex) 6. The Hangar, 75 Carl Hall Rd. 7. Cloverdale Mall, 250 The East Mall (in the old Target store) 8. North Toronto Memorial Community Centre, 200 Eglinton Ave. W. 9. Carmine Stefano Community Centre, 3100 Weston Rd.

As Toronto continues the rollout of mass immunization, to reduce and eliminate the transmission of COVID-19, protect the healthcare system and save lives, the City continues to urge all residents to stay home as much as possible to help stop the spread of the virus. Please review the City’s COVID-19: Guide for Residents for recommended and mandatory public health measures under provincial regulations and City bylaws: https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/covid-19-reopening-recovery-rebuild/covid-19-guide-for-toronto-residents/.

Quotes:

“The Team Toronto Sprint Strategy is making real progress in the hottest hot spots that will make a real difference – it will save lives. It is helping to stop the spread of COVID-19 and we could not have done it without the solid partnership between the City, Toronto Public Health, our hospital partners, and the community health agencies and trusted ambassadors who have helped bring people by the thousands to get vaccinated. Almost 100,000 additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be going to the hottest hot spots this week alone for pop-up and mobile clinics. We know from our public health officials that these doses will make a difference in our fight against the virus. These are shots in the right arms in the right neighbourhoods in order to meaningfully stop the spread of COVID-19. I continue to urge all our residents to get registered and to get vaccinated as soon as they are eligible.” - Mayor John Tory

“Our Team Toronto Sprint Strategy is about getting shots into the arms of our most vulnerable residents as quickly as possible, including essential and frontline workers. In our 13 high-priority areas, first-dose vaccination rates have tripled in the past month, making it clear that the Strategy is working. With this new phase, we're ramping up doses to mobile clinics, and adding four more priority areas in Scarborough to the list. As our available vaccine supply continues to increase in the coming weeks, we'll open up even more vaccination appointments at our City-run clinics, and expand pop-up and mobile clinics to more areas of the city.” - Councillor Joe Cressy (Spadina-Fort York), Chair of the Board of Health

“Today, I want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who took the personal responsibility and rightly trusted the science to get out there and line up to get a vaccine shot. Thank you to everyone who got those shots into people's arms – our hospital and Ontario Health Team partners and especially the vaccinators who put those needles into those arms. Thank you to the community leadership who are so effectively reaching into their communities, inspiring and rallying the confidence in the people who live there to roll up their sleeves and take this steps to get vaccinated to protect themselves, protect their community and by extension help protect this whole city.” - Dr. Eileen de Villa, Medical Officer of Health

“The City’s Immunization Task Force continues to support the Team Toronto effort to implement the Toronto Sprint Strategy. Residents living in hot spot neighbourhoods can now book their vaccine appointments in City-operated clinics through the provincial booking system. I urge those who haven’t already done so to book their vaccination appointment as soon as possible and help us beat COVID-19.” - Chief Matthew Pegg, General Manager of the Office of Emergency Management

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