With stocks of vaccine piling up and line-ups fading, health agencies across the Greater Toronto Area are beginning to open up H1N1 vaccination programs to the general public.
Open-door vaccination programs will begin Wednesday at all the clinics in the City of Toronto, as well as Durham, York and Halton regions. Peel Region will follow suit on Thursday.
The decision puts the GTA ahead of most other major metropolitan areas in the country, including Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver, which are all still focusing on vaccinating priority groups.
David McKeown, Toronto's medical officer of health, said the supplies of vaccine and short line-ups makes it appropriate to open the doors.
“We still have both capacity in the clinics and vaccine for more,” he said in a phone interview. “I hope we'll see more people. I hope we'll see busier clinics, because we'll get more vaccine into people.”
Though demand appears to be waning, he urged Toronto residents to not become complacent about getting the shot.
“In Toronto, we are still seeing H1N1 influenza still circulating. As long as its still circulating, it's still a good idea to be immunized,” Dr. McKeown said.
Some doctors' offices also have stocks of the vaccine, and Dr. McKeown recommended people determine their family doctor's supply before attending a public clinic.
Toronto Public Health has vaccinated about 85,000 people so far. About 400,000 doses of the vaccine have been distributed across the Greater Toronto Area.
The move by the GTA follows other Ontario regions that have opened their doors to the general public, including Thunder Bay last week and Hamilton and Kingston on Monday.
Among the regions also allowing full access are Niagara, Peterborough, Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge, and the Northwestern Health Unit, Other Ontario regions still restricting access to priority groups include the City of Ottawa, the Region of Waterloo, and the Middlesex-London Health Unit.
For clinic hours and restrictions in your area, check with your local health unit.
Ontario has moved more quickly than other provinces to open doors. In British Columbia, health officials said they'd decide on opening eligibility by the end of the week.
Provincial Health Officer Perry Kendall said he may make that move because a number of at-risk people who are eligible for a shot have not been flooding in as expected.
“Demand clearly isn't what it was two weeks ago,” Dr. Kendall said. “If we continue to see that the people that we've opened it up for, for their eligibility, aren't coming forward, I would like to open up the clinics … more broadly so that anybody who wants the vaccine can come forward.”
With a report from Justine Hunter
