With COVID-19 clinics set to close, Toronto wants to focus on boosting student immunization rates
CBC
With four of Toronto's temporary COVID-19 vaccination sites set to close for good, the city is hoping to switch focus to boosting immunization rates for school-aged children.
Provincial funding will soon run out, meaning "fixed-site" vaccination clinics at Metro Hall, Cloverdale Mall, North York Civic Centre and one near Scarborough Town Centre will close after Dec. 13, the city announced in a release Monday.
Now, Toronto Public Health (TPH) wants the province to provide funds to get school children caught up on routine vaccinations that were disrupted during the pandemic.
"We have approximately 350,000 students every year in the school system ... from Kindergarten to Grade 12," said Toronto's Associate Medical Officer of Health Vinita Dubey.
"We know that, based on our current records, 250,000 of them are missing one or more vaccines."
More than 2.2 million of the 8.8 million COVID-19 vaccines administered in Toronto since Jan. 2021 were given at fixed-site and mobile clinics according to the news release.
The clinics also administered vaccinations against other illnesses, like MPOX and meningococcal as needed. In a TPH board decision this week that recommended the city request funding from the province, the board said the fixed-site vaccination clinics that are now closing played a part in the catch-up effort for routine school-age vaccinations.
TPH says it wants $3.8 million from the province to "address pandemic-induced immunization gaps" in its student immunization program and the province's Immunization of School Pupils Act through clinics, and promote the "catch-up" on vaccinations among families with school-age kids.
"Between 2019 and 2022, Ontario's childhood vaccination programs faced disruptions due to limited in-person opportunities, the closure of school-based clinics and the redirection of public health resources," this week's release stated.
"TPH encourages parents and guardians to ensure their children receive up-to-date vaccines and then report their vaccination status."
But the funding request hasn't actually been sent to the province yet. City council will vote on Dec. 13 whether to make a formal request.
In a statement, Ontario Ministry of Health spokesperson Hannah Jensen didn't comment on the potential funding request, but said the current funding agreement expires at the end of the year, not Dec. 13, and that the province has increased funding to TPH by 16 per cent since 2018, on top of one-time pandemic funding.
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