Toronto to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine clinic operations in response to Omicron’s request to the city.
The Centre for Vaccine Biology and Immunology has opened a new space in downtown Toronto, with its first operating shifts on February 19.
The facility has been designed to accommodate up to 150 patients, which is a significant increase from its previous space on Dundas St. W., and its previous capacity of 85.
The new space is located at 25 Queen St. W.
To date, the city and Omicron have already invested an additional $6 million in the vaccine clinic’s capacity and scope of services, to accommodate the additional patients.
The facility will provide immunisation shots, vaccination clinics, and support to patients who do not have access to health care.
“The new space will serve as an important source of healthcare for our vulnerable, vulnerable patients on the waiting list for the Canadian Immunization Injury Program (CIIP),” said Dr. Kevin Gulliver, director of the Centre for Vaccine Biology and Immunology. “We have been advocating for the expansion of CIIP and now we have a space at the Centre which will allow us to serve more patients.”
The expansion of the Centre was made possible through a grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC).
The province also recently awarded the Centre a further $3.7 million to expand the staff and capacity, in addition to a $2.2 million federal government grant to purchase an additional laboratory machine.
The grant from the province enabled Omicron to move its current operation to its new space on Queen St. W., as well as to purchase a new room (a 4,000 square foot laboratory space) to accommodate staff and samples.
In the interim, the city of Toronto has offered all of the funding that is necessary, as part of its COVID-19 emergency relief package.
“This is not the province paying for it. It’s the government of Ontario that is paying for it,” said Dr. Gulliver.
Ontario has also extended its grant to the Centre for two more months, which will allow it to continue to invest in research to develop vaccines against COVID-19, through a second phase of funding for Phase 2 of the CIIP.
The second phase