Toronto has received enough COVID-19 vaccines to open three of its mass immunization clinics two weeks earlier than scheduled, officials said Monday.
At a news conference on Monday, Toronto Mayor John Tory said the clinics will open early to vaccinate residents who are over the age of 80 starting on March 17. Smaller vaccination clinics have already been ramping up efforts across the city, but the mass sites will speed up the rollout.
“This vaccine news is great news — it’s fantastic news,” Tory said.
The three city-run clinics to open on March 17 are: • Metro Toronto Convention Centre • Scarborough Town Centre • Toronto Congress Centre
The clinics will operate seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The City will be receiving enough vaccine doses next week to start opening our mass immunization sites early.<br><br>3 sites on March 17 will begin vaccinating residents 80 years of age and older:<br><br>????Toronto Congress Centre<br>????Scarborough Town Centre<br>????Metro Toronto Convention Centre
The city said it plans to have the remaining six city-run clinics open in the coming weeks, contingent upon vaccine supply being available.
When fully operational, more than 1,400 staff will run all nine city clinics, including vaccinators, nurses, screening staff, clerical and administrative staff and cleaners, Toronto Public Health said.
“These are exciting and promising times,” Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa said about vaccine supply increasing, but she urged Torontonians to keep their guards up and continue following public health measures.
The city continues to ramp up vaccination efforts, with Toronto hospitals and community healthcare centres operating 17 clinics Monday, including mobile teams and in-site vaccinations, to vaccinate priority groups in their communities.
Over the weekend, 15 clinics were in operation, which brought the cumulative number of vaccine doses administered across the city to over 203,000, Toronto Public Health said in a news release Monday.
When vaccine supply increases and priority groups are vaccinated, the city will move on to vaccinating the general population at more than 350 clinics, including pharmacies and mobile clinics across Toronto.
The city’s vaccination efforts will follow the priority framework established by the province.
City launches interim vaccination booking site
Meanwhile, Toronto hospitals have launched an interim website where eligible residents can register and book an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine as the city awaits the province’s centralized registration system to get up and running.
Toronto’s Board of Health chair Joe Cressy tweeted the news on Monday, saying this is “not an ideal situation”, but a necessary step.
Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said the timing of this online portal is important and was implemented “to bridge a very small gap” between this week and March 15, which is when the province is expected to launch their centralized site.
The people who are currently eligible to pre-register or book appointments at hospital and health sector clinics include:
People who are 80 years of age and older
Priority health care workers
Indigenous adults (16 and up)
Adults receiving ongoing home care
Vaccinations at hospital and health sector clinics are by appointment only. Walk-ins or stand-by appointments are not available.
While we wait for the Province’s registration system to go live, Toronto hospitals and Ontario Health Teams have launched a vaccine website and call centre, for Phase 1 priority groups to register & book appointments at hospital and health sector clinics: <a href=”https://t.co/OSRrjuijKO”>https://t.co/OSRrjuijKO</a> <a href=”https://t.co/k3qTxO81AC”>pic.twitter.com/k3qTxO81AC</a>
“People who are eligible under the above priority groups must only sign up at one vaccination clinic. If you book appointments at multiple clinics, all bookings may be cancelled,” Cressy tweeted.
Appointments can be made online or by phone via the call centre, which can be reached at 1-888-385-1910.
On Monday, Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg announced “much larger” supplies of both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines will be delivered to city operated and partner health clinics.
Clinics will receive vaccine doses as followed: • Week of March 15 – 17,500 doses • Week of March 22 – 98,920 doses • Week of March 29 – 174,200 doses • Week of April 5 – 80,730 doses • Week of April 12 – 80,730 doses.
The city said it plans to increase the number of vaccines that can be administered monthly from 500,000 to approximately 975,000 as vaccine availability permits.
Pegg also said the possibility of 24-hour vaccination clinics — something city councillors have asked for — relies heavily on vaccine supply.
40% of city’s cases screened as variant of concern
Dr. Eileen de Villa said that almost 40 per cent the city’s reported COVID-19 cases are now being screened positive as a variant of concern.
To date, 2,004 cases have screened positive for variants of concern. A week ago, de Villa said that number was 1,179.
“We have come perilously close to doubling this count in a week,” she said, adding that she’s also worried about potential effects of variants on vaccines.
“Vaccines are powerful, but not beyond challenge.”
De Villa said the city of Toronto saw 636 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, (though the province has flagged there may be a data issue at play.)
“There were some challenges experienced by our provincial counterparts today on the data system. This is unfortunate but I know they have worked very hard…to correct things as quickly as possible.”
The city also saw four more people with COVID-19 die.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 sits at 257, with 53 of those in intensive care.
City moves into grey-level lockdown
The province’s final stay-at-home orders were lifted in three regions Monday, including Toronto, shifting it back into the grey-level lockdown.
Under the grey lockdown tier of the framework, non-essential stores can open at 25 per cent capacity while indoor dining, gyms and hair salons remain closed.
When asked how important it is for Toronto’s economy to have non-essential retail stores reopen today, he said it is “very, very important” both in the context of the state of businesses and of the public’s well being.
Tory said the last thing he wants to do is re-open now and then close again.
“That would be the worst nightmare scenario for most businesses.”
In response to a question about the Centres for Disease and Control Prevention’s announcement Monday saying vaccinated adults can gather indoors without a mask in the U.S., de Villa said she expects guidance on this front to be provided shortly from the provincial level.
But she said as it stands, remaining distanced from others is the best course of action.
“There’s reason for optimism and hope and all the more reason for us to push through the last little bit.”
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
