Starting tomorrow, Toronto's 1,300 paramedics will be eligible to receive Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine at one of three hospitals in the city, Mayor John Tory announced Wednesday.
The city's three partner hospitals— Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Humber River Hospital, and the University Health Network— will be able to vaccinate 50 paramedics per day at each of the three vaccination sites.
"Paramedics in our city, who have done such a fantastic job during the pandemic and of course every other day as well, are an extension of our emergency departments and play a vital role in our response to the pandemic," Tory said at a news conference on Wednesday.
"Getting them vaccinated will not only protect all residents but also other frontline workers."
The mayor said members of the Toronto Paramedics Services Community Paramedicine team will be inoculated today and tomorrow and that team, in turn, will be trained on how to administer vaccines to other paramedics.
Currently, there is a limited supply in Ontario of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, the only two vaccines that are currently approved by Health Canada.
During the first phase of the vaccine rollout, the province has prioritized vaccinating health-care workers as well as staff and residents of long-term care homes.
The Ontario government announced Tuesday that it plans to administer shots to every long-term care resident in Toronto, Peel Region, York Region, and Windsor-Essex County by Jan. 21.
Toronto's Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa said about 1,800 staff and residents within city-operated long-term care homes have been vaccinated to date.
More than 80 per cent of the 2,600 residents in city-run homes have provided consent to be vaccinated, she said, and shots will continue to be administered this week and over the weekend.
There are 87 long-term care homes in Toronto, 10 of which are operated by the city, and vaccines have been distributed to 30 Toronto long-term care homes so far.
