'Disappointing' vaccine slowdown dooms Toronto vax clinic

Non-hospital clinic ordered to close by Friday due to dwindling Pfizer vaccine doses

Torontosun.com
Jan. 19, 2021
Bryan Passifiume

Faced with a dwindling supply of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine, the city will only be able to operate its new vaccine clinic until Friday.

Emergency Management Head Mathew Pegg described Pfizer’s decision to slow vaccine deliveries into Canada -- due to production upgrades at one of its European facilities -- as discouraging.

“We were all disappointed to learn that the delivery of the Pfizer vaccine to Canada is expected to be delayed,” Pegg said Monday.

Pfizer announced on Friday they would be cutting doses coming into Canada by half for the next four weeks, reducing an expected 735,000 doses to around 368,000.

Opening on Monday, Toronto’s vaccine clinic at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre will administer just 250 doses per day, around 10% of its planned capacity, until it closes.

“The procurement and supply of COVID-19 vaccine is a responsibility of the federal government,” Pegg said, explaining that doses allocated to Ontario are doled out by the provincial government based on their guidelines.

The clinic will close Friday until more doses become available, Pegg said -- with remaining doses being reserved for those requiring their second dose.

BIG-BOX ENFORCEMENT BLITZ
City COVID-19 enforcement teams spent the weekend inspecting big-box retailers, finding about 70% of the stores visited were within the rules.

Pegg said 10 charges were handed out by officers due to non-compliance of the Reopening Ontario Act, and 12 notices were handed out.

A preemptive check of 146 Toronto bars and restaurants resulted in no charges.

Officers handed out 41 charges related to large gatherings on private property, including a gaming house and a number of private residences.

Twenty charges under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act were laid at a number of protests held over the weekend, including four criminal charges.

Toronto saw 892 new cases on Monday, with two new deaths.

There are 491 patients in Toronto hospitals, and 113 patients are in ICU.

The city is also dealing with 50 active outbreaks at Toronto long-term care homes, and 12 in city retirement homes.