More than 18,100 York Region residents aged 80 and older were vaccinated against COVID-19 during the first week of York Region's early phase one rollout.
The week began with residents scrambling to book appointments at one of three vaccination centres in Newmarket, Vaughan and Richmond Hill when the online portal opened on Monday, March 1, two weeks ahead of the anticipated launch of the province’s online and telephone booking system on March 15.
Later in the week, York Region announced that two additional clinics, operated by the public health unit, would open in Richmond Hill and Georgina, creating more appointments for the many vulnerable seniors anxiously awaiting protection from COVID-19.
However, those two public health clinics will not operate during the week ahead due to lack of vaccine supply.
According to York Region medical officer of health Dr. Karim Kurji, the province has confirmed the delivery of 9,300 additional Pfizer vaccine on Monday, which will supply the three clinics operated by the hospitals.
To date, a total of 66,420 doses have been administered to long-term care, retirement homes, congregate living facilities, residents and non-residents who are essential workers in York Region, according to York Region spokesperson Patrick Casey.
While all the appointments for the hospital-operated clinics in Newmarket, Vaughan and Markham were booked within 90 minutes last Monday, Casey said residents can check the online portal for any additional appointments that may become available due to no-shows or cancellations.
Availability at each of the clinics is readily identified by a new colour-coded system on york.ca/covid19vaccine: red indicates appointments are fully booked; orange shows limited availability; and green indicates appointments are available. As of today, appointments are fully booked for the clinic at Ray Twinney Recreation Complex in Newmarket.
“This approach will enable residents to check back often in the event additional appointments become available, as they sometimes do,” Casey said.
Over the last week, York Region’s website had more than 650,000 page views, with more than 250,000 page views on Monday alone, and 175,000 on the vaccine clinic page specifically, Casey said.
