Booking a vaccine in York Region? Don't look to the provincial portal yet

Public health sticks with local scheduling system for all but Markham vaccine clinics

Yorkregion.com
March 16, 2021
Kim Zarzour

If you’re older than 80 and want to schedule your COVID-19 vaccine, there’s no need, as of yet, to go through Ontario’s newly launched booking website.

York Region is sticking with its existing COVID-19 vaccine scheduling system for now -- except for the Markham vaccination site, which has switched to the new provincial portal.

To book your shot in Vaughan, Georgina, Newmarket or Richmond Hill, visit york.ca/covid19vaccine.

If you prefer to use the Markham clinic at Cornell Community Centre, you can access booking at the same location. but it will direct you to the newly launched Ontario system, or you can access the Markham clinic by going directly to the provincial booking portal, covid19.ontariohealth.ca.

Markham Stouffville hospital has opted to join the province’s portal after experiencing problems with its current working system, Dr. Karim Kurji, the region’s medical officer of health, told York Region Council Mar. 11.

The other two hospitals -- Southlake and Mackenzie Health (which operate sites at Newmarket’s Ray Twinney Recreation Complex and Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, respectively) -- plan to migrate on Mar. 22 or 29, or even later, depending on how the experience at Markham Stouffville progresses, he said.

York Region Public Health, which operates clinics at Maple Community Centre, Georgina Ice Palace and Richmond Green, would have liked to switch the provincial portal at the same time as Southlake and Mackenzie hospitals, Kurji said, "but upon further reflection, we feel that we may want to stay on with our existing booking system at least until sometime in April."

The provincial system has its benefits, he said. The portal is designed for mass immunizations, making it easier to move through the different age categories on a large scale and information is immediately uploaded into COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing system.

Kurji said Southlake has had problems with this uploading process; it was unusually slow on the day that led to seniors waiting in the cold at Ray Twinney.

The current local system appears to be best suited to the region for now, he added.

Appointments are available for residents who are 80 and older (born in 1941 or earlier) and who live in York Region, as well as very high priority health care workers who live or work in York Region - and, as of Mar. 15, high priority workers can also book appointments.

As of 5 p.m. Mar. 15, 62.8 per cent of residents aged 80+ had received at least their first dose.

About 90 per cent of appointments being booked by York Region residents are being done through the region’s online system, with a call centre helping about 10 per cent of those who can’t manage online, he said.

"At this time, an operational decision has been made to not fully transition all York Region vaccination clinics to the provincial booking system," Patrick Casey, the region’s director of corporation communications, said.

The region is considering when to migrate to the provincial booking portal and customer service system, he said.

"It is shifting sands right now and we just have to keep re-evaluating," Kurji said.

Good to know:
Translation and transportation assistance is being offered to residents 80 and older seeking to be immunized against COVID-19.

Those who require transportation assistance for vaccine appointments can contact YRT Mobility On-Request at 1-866-744-1119 to arrange a ride.

Translation services are available if needed.

Additional transportation services are offered by community partners CHATS, Carefirst, Routes, and Pinkcars.ca.

For a complete list of community transportation options, call 211 or visit 211central.ca.