Over 4-thousand vaccine appointment’s booked as Toronto’s portal opens for those 80-and-up
Posted March 12, 2021 6:04 am.
Last Updated March 12, 2021 5:12 pm.
The oldest Torontonians will be able to begin booking appointments at the city’s mass vaccination clinics on Friday.
Toronto is opening approximately 133,000 online COVID-19 vaccination bookings for the city-run immunization clinics for residents born in 1941 or earlier.
The clinics will begin administering doses on March 17 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Scarborough Town Centre, and Toronto Congress Centre.
Starting March 29, Malvern Community Recreation Centre on Sewells Road and Mitchell Field Community Centre on Church Avenue will be open for vaccine administration.
The Hangar on Carl Hall Road will then begin operations on April 5, marking the city’s sixth immunization clinic.
In an update, the city says the booking link received more than 1,500 clicks within 10 minutes of going live.
“In the five hours the registration link has been live, 4,902 people have booked vaccination appointments,” the city said in a statement.
“The City and Toronto Public Health are looking forward to getting needles in arms starting Wednesday, March 17.”
Is your birthday in 1941 or earlier? Book your appointment at https://t.co/9Unc5FtjZu starting March 12. Residents will need to provide info on their health card, birthdate, postal code and email and/or phone number. You can also have someone book an appointment on your behalf. pic.twitter.com/H040MhTnoB
— City of Toronto (@cityoftoronto) March 12, 2021
The three clinics open for bookings as of today will operate seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Appointments can be made through the city’s online booking portal, which went live just before noon Friday.
“It is great to know that 4,902 people 80 and older have already registered to get their COVID-19 vaccine at the City-run clinics starting next week. I want to thank people who have signed up today and encourage others who are eligible to book their shot as soon as possible,” said Mayor John Tory in a statement.
“We know enough vaccine is coming to our city next week to provide 133,000 appointments. Thank you to everyone who is working on this ongoing vaccination effort so that we can end the pandemic as soon as possible.”
RELATED: People lined up to get vaccinated without appointments at Toronto pharmacy
The provincial pilot project offering COVID-19 vaccines in pharmacies is also expanding more broadly.
Shoppers Drug Mart locations at Danforth and Pape and at Danforth and Main were expected to have 500 doses to administer on Friday.
Oxford-AstraZeneca shots are being given to Ontarians between the ages of 60 to 64 at 325 pharmacies in the Toronto, Windsor, and Kingston health units following Wednesday’s announcement by the Ford government.
The various locations include pharmacies at Shoppers Drug Mart, Costco, Wal-Mart, and Loblaws, among others.
Over 194,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have arrived in Ontario.
Individual pharmacies are using their own booking systems.
“Vaccines are one of the most powerful COVID-19 prevention tools available to us,” said Toronto’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Eileen de Villa.
“Of the four approved for use in Canada, each offers real protection against the worst risks of COVID-19. I encourage everyone to get one as the Province’s prioritization framework is implemented.”
