Toronto opens 19K more long-weekend COVID-19 vaccine appointments

Toronto is adding nearly 30,000 more COVID-19 vaccine appointments in the coming week in a push to get people vaccinated before summer.

The City is opening 19,000 more appointments at 4 pm on Wednesday for the Victoria Day long weekend. Nearly 5,000 more appointments will be added every day of the weekend at six mass immunization clinics.

“You can make sure this is the last long weekend in lockdown by getting vaccinated if you haven’t already,” Mayor John Tory said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

In addition, another 10,000 appointments are being opened for next week.

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All adults 18 and up are now eligible to book a vaccine, and youth age 12 to 17 will become eligible in the first week of June. Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said children need to have reached their 12th birthday by the day they receive the vaccine.

Dr. Eileen de Villa, medical officer of health, reminded Torontonians to follow public health measures over the long weekend to avoid a post-holiday spike in new cases.

“Every holiday weekend we’ve seen an increase in COVID-19 infections,” she said. “That is the last thing we want considering the variants that are afoot in Toronto and the significant number of people with no vaccine protection at all.”

She said residents are welcome to enjoy the good weather, but should avoid gatherings and remember that it takes two weeks from the date of vaccination to have protection against the virus.

“Remember, there’s more at stake this holiday weekend than perhaps there has been for a very long time.”