Data shows wealthier Toronto postal codes lead rollout of 2nd dose of COVID-19 vaccines

Wealthier postal codes appear to be in the lead when it comes to the administration of second doses of COVID-19 vaccines, new data shows.

All adults in Ontario to be eligible for 2nd dose of COVID-19 vaccine by June 28, province says

According to Ontario’s Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), pandemic inequalities are once again being seen, this time with with richer neighbourhoods having the greatest proportion of fully vaccinated people.

ICES lists the most fully vaccinated neighbourhood in Toronto as Forest Hill at 17.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, the least fully vaccinated neighbourhoods are listed as Jane and Finch at five per cent, and Rexdale at 4.6 per cent.

A total of 2,750,172 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far in Toronto, the city said Wednesday.

As of yesterday evening, about 796,859 people had booked appointments for COVID-19 vaccines at city-run clinics.

“We’re hitting milestones that matter when it comes to the next steps of the provincial reopening,” Mayor John Tory said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

Toronto hits new vaccination record

Tory said Toronto hit a new vaccination record this week.

“Our seven-day average is 44,675 total doses a day, which is an all-time high for Team Toronto,” he said.

More than 20 per cent of adults in Toronto have received both first and second doses, up from 10 per cent just a week ago, Tory added.

In response to unprecedented demand for second shots, the city has added 30,000 appointments at its clinics for the period June 22 to 27. The appointments became available as of 8 a.m. this morning..

The city says these new slots will be for the Moderna vaccine only. This is the first time the city has exclusively offered Moderna rather than either Moderna or Pfizer at its clinics.

Last Monday, the province opened accelerated second dose bookings to both individuals who received a first dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccine on or before May 9, and people who received a first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine eight weeks or more ago.

Tory also provided an update on the city’s VaxTO campaign, which launched on May 26 to help connect residents with COVID-19 vaccination information and resources.

Starting tonight, the city will host five targeted, local telephone town hall meetings in areas that are part of the Sprint Strategy 2.0, with more to come in July.

The five local telephone town halls confirmed for June are:

• Wednesday, June 16 — Crescent Town and Oakridge.
• Thursday, June 17 — Etobicoke North.
• Tuesday, June 22 — Humber River Black Creek.
• Wednesday, June 23 — Willowdale East.
• Tuesday, June 29 — Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park.

The city is encouraging everyone aged 12 years or older to book their vaccination appointment as soon as possible by clicking the blue “Book a Vaccine” button on Toronto’s COVID-19 website or by phone through calling the provincial vaccine booking line at 1-833-943-3900.

Concern over people who haven’t been vaccinated

Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa said the delta variant poses a demonstrated risk of infection to anyone who is not fully vaccinated.

“From a health point of view, I’m most concerned today about people who haven’t been vaccinated at all, particularly the older you get,” de Villa said.

“For the rest of us, what happens with delta could cause problems that may disrupt reopening and moving forward to where we all want to be.”

More vaccines coming next week

Meanwhile, Toronto Fire Chief and head of Emergency Management Matthew Pegg said Toronto will receive 162,630 doses of the Pfizer vaccine next week.

Of this amount, 60,102 of those doses have been allocated to city-operated clinics, 36,000 doses to the city’s sprint strategy and 66,528 doses to health-care partners.

“Also next week, the City of Toronto will also receive 101,000 doses of the Moderna mRNA vaccine,” Pegg said.

“Thirty thousand of those doses have been allocated to the city-operated clinic, 20,000 doses to the sprint strategy and 51,000 doses to our team Toronto partners.”

On Wednesday Toronto Public Health reported 84 new cases of COVID-19.

There are currently 605 people hospitalized with the viral illness. Of this number, there are 178 people in intensive care units.

Over the last 24 hours, an additional seven deaths have been linked to COVID-19. To date, there have been 3,463 COVID-19 deaths in Toronto. In total, 163,968 people have recovered.

CBC