Toronto to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine clinic operations in response to Omicron and more sites announced by province
Toronto’s first COVID-19 vaccine clinic has launched at its new location in Toronto’s Humber Bayadeen community, which had been a home quarantine site for COVID-19 patients, after more than 50 staff members – including medical staff, technicians, and administrative staff – have been redeployed to the clinic at the Queen Street West site.
The vaccine clinic is serving both patients and staff who have been quarantined at the Queen Street West site.
Starting today, all new patients must self-isolate for 14 days from travel, and everyone who has been quarantined for 14 days will also be required to self-isolate for 14 days from travel.
Those who are currently quarantined at the Queen Street W site will go to the vaccine clinic.
The initial intake process at the vaccine clinic includes a swab test to determine whether or not the patient has been exposed to the virus. The swab test is also meant to help identify the person whose virus is circulating but is not yet known to be infectious.
“It’s a small process, but it’s an important part of how we can do our job,” said Dr. Daniel Henshaw, Toronto’s chief of infectious diseases. “By going through the procedures we’ve already gone through, we are trying to help our front-line staff and the front-line health-care worker to continue to do their part in preventing the transmission of COVID-19.”
In the coming weeks, Henshaw expects the clinic to add more capacity, including a PCR lab (polymerase chain reaction lab) and an additional quarantine site.
“We want to ramp up the vaccine clinic,” said Dr. Anthony Sperry, Toronto’s deputy chief of infectious diseases.
“We have over 50 staff now based in Toronto, and the majority are frontline health-care workers. That