Just a year ago, most Toronto residents spent the spring searching for feeds on Twitter and groups on WhatsApp for available doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
But authorities in Toronto praised the success of the local vaccination campaign on Thursday as the city counted its 7 million dose.
“Seven million doses of COVID-19 vaccine given to a city of 3 million people. This is an absolutely amazing achievement, “said Toronto health care physician Dr. Eileen de Villa at a news conference with Mayor John Torrey at the Metro Hall Vaccine Clinic. “I just can’t say it for sure. A year ago, if he had told me that we would reach this stage in Toronto, I don’t think I would have believed it.
Last May, most people struggled to find the first or second dose of new vaccines available at a number of pop-up clinics and mass vaccination sites across the city.
Vaccines are now readily available in most pharmacies and designated urban vaccination sites, and among those five or more, the city has achieved a vaccination rate of 91 percent for the first doses and nearly 88 percent for the second doses. The third doses lag behind by about 53.5% among these 5+, although the city points out that among those aged 18 and over who are currently eligible to receive a booster, the number is 65.7%.
Although the vaccination campaign exceeded expectations, Torrey said he was still concerned that some people may have become complacent about getting all the eligible vaccines.
“I am happy that the people of Toronto can see the city and see how they are moving to a different stage of the pandemic, where life is a little closer to normal, but I am concerned that we still have a lot of room for compensation. “especially the third and fourth doses, and that people should not conclude that our efforts are over and that their consideration of vaccination is over because it should not be,” Tori said.
COVID-19 infections have risen in Ontario in recent months due to the highly contagious version of Omicron, and researchers estimate that there are currently about 80 to 90,000 new infections a day in Ontario. But vaccination, combined with the fact that Omicron appears to cause less severe disease in many people, has blunted the effects of the virus.
Although existing vaccines have been shown to be less effective in preventing symptomatic Omicron infection than in previous variants, they still did a good job of protecting against severe disease. A recent study by the Quebec Institute of Public Health found that two doses proved to be about 77-85 percent effective against hospitalization, while a third dose increased protection against hospitalization to about 98-100 percent.
Torrey said his own experience with the virus would probably be worse if he hadn’t been vaccinated.
“I believe that the reason my symptoms went away in a day and a half at my age was that I was vaccinated three times. I don’t think there is any question about that, “said Tori, who is 67 years old. “Seven days at home were much better than seven days in the hospital, and that’s still true.”
De Villa said Thursday that public health data in Toronto showed that between December and April, an unvaccinated person was twice as likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 than someone who had three vaccines.
As most health restrictions have already been lifted, much of the population has resumed normal or semi-normal daily lives, even as the infection rate remains high.
However, the scientific director of the scientific advisory table for COVID-19 in Ontario recently warned in an interview with CP24 that while Ontario seems to be on the right track in terms of declining levels of infection, a new option could cause a wave of infections in summer or autumn.
“So I’m just going to say congratulations to the people on the seven million. Thank you for moving forward to get vaccinated. “You have contributed to your own health and the collective health of all your fellow citizens of Toronto,” Tori said. “Thanks to the team that did it, but our work is not over.”
Information on the eligibility of vaccines and vaccination sites can be found on the city’s vaccines page.
– With files from The Canadian Press
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