Toronto to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine clinic operations in response to Omicron
Toronto is ramping up clinic operations in response to the need for an expanded capacity.
The Ontario Public Health Act (OPHA) gives the province the power to call out additional clinics based on a need-to-know list. Omicron, a private company, has been selected to run the first two clinics and has also been contracted to deliver services elsewhere in the city.
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Toronto Public Health, Omicron, and Public Health Ontario
On Monday, Toronto Public Health announced the first location that will be running the expanded vaccine clinic, at the University of Toronto, with an initial capacity of 150 vaccines. This brings the total capacity to 300 vaccines. Further clinic locations will be added as Omicron can ramp up capacity.
The clinic is led by Dr. Kevin Smith, a clinical emergency physician at the Emergency Department of the University Health Network.
The timeline for the expanding vaccine clinic in Toronto looks like this:
Thursday, February 25 at 6:00 PM Local time:
OPHA calls out clinic to add capacity to the existing location. The call for the expansion is posted on OPHA online and will be reviewed by staff at Omicron. Omicron staff will be on the ground at the clinic within seven days.
OPHA provides the clinic with the list of vaccines needed to treat COVID-19 patients. This list has been posted on OPHA and will be reviewed to determine if the vaccine clinic can be expanded and whether the list is sufficient for the clinic. The list will be posted on OPHA again following review to ensure the list is updated to reflect changes to the number of vaccines needed.
OPHA will then contact the clinic to confirm if it meets the criteria. The Omicron contract specifies that the first 150 vaccines are provided by Omicron.
OPHA will then provide the list of vaccine needs to the clinic including all other vaccine types that are needed to treat patients with COVID-19.
Monday, March 9 at 9: