Today, Mayor John Tory and Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa joined Wayne Drummond, President of Hudson’s Bay to kick off the official opening of a new vaccination clinic located at Woodbine Mall. As part of the clinic’s official opening, Hudson’s Bay is offering a 20 per cent discount on in-store purchases to individuals who receive a COVID-19 vaccine at this location today.
The new City-run clinic is located at 500 Rexdale Boulevard in Etobicoke and replaces the clinic operations at The Hangar, which closed on Saturday, September 18. The clinic at Woodbine Mall is open from Tuesday to Saturday, 1 to 7 p.m. for walk-in appointments for first or second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for anyone born in 2009 or earlier at the time of vaccination. This clinic also offers appointments for students in grades 7 to 12 to be vaccinated against Meningitis, Hepatitis B and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) as part of their routine school immunizations.
The Woodbine Mall location was selected as part of Team Toronto’s data-based approach to bring vaccines to residents in areas and settings that have low vaccination coverage, or who are at high risk of contracting COVID-19, or both. Woodbine Mall is close to several neighbourhoods where COVID-19 vaccination rates are below the City-wide average, including Kingsway Village-The Westway, Elms-Old Rexdale and Mount Olive-Silverstone-Jamestown.
In addition to the Woodbine Mall site, City-operated COVID-19 vaccine clinics at Cloverdale Mall, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Scarborough Town Centre and Mitchell Field Community Centre remain open and continue to offer COVID-19 vaccines and routine immunizations.
Vaccines are one of the most effective ways to improve global health and prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and protect against some cancers. In Ontario, children require vaccines according to the province’s immunization schedule, starting at two months of age through the Immunization of School Pupil Act (ISPA). Under ISPA, elementary and secondary school students are required to be immunized against HPV, Meningitis and Hepatitis B, unless they have a valid medical, religious or philosophical exemption.
Students in high school who did not receive their vaccines in grades 7 or 8 can now also receive these routine vaccines at City-run immunization clinics. Appointments can be booked through www.tphbookings.ca/. Vaccines are also available from primary care providers. Parents are required to update their child’s immunization record or provide a valid exemption form to TPH.
The City continues to work with Team Toronto to support convenient ways for all residents to receive essential protection against COVID-19 through vaccination. Vaccination is a key public health measure to reduce community spread of COVID-19 as the virus and the more infectious Delta variant continue to circulate in Toronto. Receiving two doses of the vaccine will help protect residents from severe illness and outcomes, and protect our young children, friends, families and other loved ones.
In addition to the City-run clinics, TPH and our Team Toronto healthcare partners have the capacity to host up to 200 mobile clinics each week to increase access to vaccination and address low vaccine uptake among residents. The City’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic calendar provides daily updates on available sites across the city: https://sites.google.com/mobil
More information on the City-run COVID-19 clinics can be seen here: www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/c
Quotes:
“The opening of the new clinic at Woodbine Mall signals the next step in our efforts to meet our goal of vaccinating 90% of residents in Toronto. This new clinic will help us target an area within our city that has lower vaccination rates and by opening the clinic in a highly frequented area, we are ensuring that we are making the vaccine as accessible as possible. I want to thank all of our partners including the Hudson’s Bay for making this clinic possible and for providing the space for the clinic. I encourage residents who haven’t yet received their vaccine to either walk in or book an appointment at the Woodbine Clinic and help us stop the spread of COVID-19.”
– Toronto Mayor John Tory
“Toronto Public Health, our Team Toronto partners, and Vaccine Ambassadors in communities all across Toronto are working hard to break down every barrier to vaccination. The new Woodbine Mall clinic location builds on our successful hyper-local, data-driven approach to bring vaccines right to where people are.”
– Councillor Joe Cressy (Spadina-Fort York), Chair of Toronto’s Board of Health
“We continue to take every step and work hard to make it is easy as possible for residents to get fully vaccinated and the best protection against COVID-19 as quickly as possible. Today’s launch of the Woodbine Mall vaccine clinic is another example of our work to bring vaccine to Torontonians and protect our communities. This clinic and our other City-run ones are a key part in increasing immunization rates among young people, and protecting all members of our community.”
– Dr. Eileen de Villa, Medical Officer of Health
Source City of Toronto
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