The city of Toronto will begin vaccinating people experiencing homelessness in the city’s shelter system starting this week.
According to a press release published by the city of Toronto on Sunday, Ontario officials confirmed that they updated the province’s Phase 1 priority for vaccinations to include people experiencing homelessness.
“We are doing everything we can to support the provincial and federal government in the vaccine rollout. We are working to vaccinate those at highest risk in our city as quickly as possible,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said in a statement.
“Thank you to the provincial government for working with us to begin vaccinating our homeless population.”
Toronto Public Health (TPH) will work with its health care partners and the city’s shelter services to identify homeless shelters that have the highest risk of contracting COVID-19 to begin the vaccination campaign.
“Our success in battling this pandemic will be measured in how well we have protected those who are most vulnerable,” Joe Cressy, a Toronto city councillor and chair of the Toronto Board of Health said.
“People experiencing homelessness are at elevated risk of serious health impacts due to COVID-19 and are vulnerable to transmission in congregate settings.”
The press release said that with the limited supply of vaccines, a planned program that focuses primarily on protecting people that are most at risk of COVID-19 and minimizing the spread of the virus is required for vaccine delivery in Toronto.
Tory said that the work to get as many people vaccinated will ramp up in the coming weeks as the city receives more vaccines from the Canadian government. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston)
The province of Ontario also confirmed that this week people aged 80 and over will be eligible for vaccination when vaccines are available. According to the press release from the city of Toronto, the following population are eligible for vaccination:
- Residents aged 80 years living independently in the community
- Patients aged 80 and older who attend hospitals for treatments such as dialysis or chemotherapy
- Seniors in congregate care settings such as assisting living
- Health care workers who are identified as very high priority including nurse practitioners, midwives, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, physicians, dentists and dental care providers and their staff who provide direct patient care
- Adults who are receiving on-going home care.
Work on vaccinating first responders is also continuing this week.
Tory said that the work to get as many people vaccinated will ramp up in the coming weeks as the city receives more vaccines from the Canadian government.
“I continue to urge everyone to get vaccinated when they are eligible – it is safe, it will help protect you and everyone in your life, and it will help us defeat COVID-19,” he added.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.