Several public health units will continue vaccinating Ontarians through the holidays, with the City of Toronto opening up an additional 14,000 spots around New Year's in what one councillor described as a "wartime effort."

This comes as the province logged 5,790 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, a record number since the beginning of the pandemic. There has been a surge in demand for booster doses recently, especially with the presence of the new Omicron variant, which is more transmissible and has become the dominant strain in Ontario. So far, nearly 2.6 million Ontarians have received a third or booster dose.

"Christmas Day, Boxing Day and now New Year’s Day. Our frontline heroes are again stepping up and working through the holidays to support Team Toronto ramping up our COVID-19 vaccine booster campaign," said Coun. Joe Cressy, chair of the Toronto Board of Health, in a statement Thursday. "This is a wartime effort, and we won’t stop until everyone in our city has the chance to get vaccinated."

Toronto announced that 14,000 vaccination appointments would be available at city-run clinics from Jan. 1–3. This follows a Dec. 21 update that several clinics would be open from Dec. 25–27 and that around 6,662 new appointments were being added for that period at the time. The clinic at the Thorncliffe Park Community Hub, for example, is scheduled to run for nearly 12 hours each of these days, while others will be open for a shorter duration.

"We are working at war-time speed throughout the holidays to help people get their third COVID-19 vaccine dose," Toronto Mayor John Tory said.

While some other health units also have select clinics operating on Christmas and New Year's, others have decided to keep them closed so that health workers can get a break.

Dan Flaherty, a spokesperson for the Middlesex-London Health Unit, said clinics are operating through the holidays, though some will be closed on a few days. The Western Fair District Agriplex clinic, which has the capacity for 2,500 doses per day, is scheduled to stay open throughout including on Christmas and New Year's, though there will be reduced hours on these days.

Flaherty noted, however, that the health unit books appointments four weeks in advance and "there is currently very little availability over the next four weeks."

Dr. Vera Etches, medical officer of health for Ottawa Public Health, said in a Dec. 22 update that work on the city's vaccine rollout "will continue over every day of the upcoming holidays."

Several community clinics listed on the city's website indicate that they will be closed on Christmas and New Year's, however, though a few will continue administering doses on those days.

Etches said the health unit has reached a capacity of 9,000 appointments per day, which is close to its peak back in July.

"While we are working around the clock to increase available appointments, this will take some time," she said.

So far, around 64 per cent of Ottawa residents 80 and older and 56 per cent of those in their 70s have received a booster dose.

Peel Public Health also asked for patience as it works to add more appointments.

"Through the holidays, vaccinations will be available every day in Peel," the health unit stated, noting pharmacies would be administering doses when clinics aren't.

"Unfortunately, appointments through this period are full and walk-ins may be restricted, even at pharmacies," said the health unit, adding that new clinics will be opening up in the region to boost capacity over the holidays.

But while some clinics are booked to February for booster doses, Peel Public Health said some appointments for 5-11-year-olds might be available during the winter break and that walk-ins are also being accepted for this age group. Also, due to supply issues, the health unit is giving the Pfizer vaccine to residents aged 12 to 29 and the Moderna vaccine to individuals 30 and older starting Thursday.

Patrick Casey, director of corporate communications for York Region, said that the municipality's vaccine clinics will be closed on Dec. 25 and 26, and on Jan. 1. Where clinics are closed on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31, "special clinics will be running those days in other areas to meet our residents’ needs," Casey said.

"Pausing clinic operations on those days will allow staff a brief reprieve to focus on their well-being; our staff have been tirelessly working to ramp up our clinic capacity and we are only at the beginning of the booster immunization roll out," he said.

Casey noted that York Region launched two new mass vaccination clinics on Thursday, with residents (50 and older for a booster dose and give and older for first and second doses) being able to book appointments for Dec. 27 and later. Around 15,000 appointments are being offered at these clinics, Casey said.

"York Region is currently scaling up vaccine clinic operations through a variety of means, including extending hours, adding additional staff and opening new clinic sites; this has resulted in more available appointments up to the end of the year and into January," he said.

The region is currently administering close to 15,000 doses per day, close to the previous peak of more than 18,000 doses.

Toronto to continue ‘wartime effort’ of vaccinating through the holidays

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