Lines for getting booster shots in Toronto are now snaking around full blocks
Long lines have been forming around Toronto, not just for the free rapid antigen tests that have dominated headlines in recent days, but also for the chance to get a COVID-19 booster shot and bolster their immunity as Omicon bears down on the city.
One of the longest, craziest queues happened out front of Morse Street Junior Public School at 180 Carlaw Ave in Leslieville, where lines snaked around the block before the clinic even opened.
Lines for getting booster shots in Toronto snaked around the block in Leslieville today and the pop-up clinic wasn't even open yet #Toronto #Ontario #BoosterJab #OntarioVaccine pic.twitter.com/n2nukDpaW5
— blogTO (@blogTO) December 21, 2021
The Morse Street PS pop-up vaccine clinic is one of a few being operated by Michael Garron Hospital and East Toronto Health Partners today, crowds giving up several hours of their day to slowly advance through the line and get their long-awaited booster shots.
An info page for the pop-ups states that they hope "to help make COVID-19 vaccines as easy and convenient to access as possible," but reports from these and other clinics across the region are painting a different picture, demand seeming to exceed capacity just about everywhere the booster is being offered.
It's a scene that has played out similarly across the province, with painfully long lines plaguing many pop-up clinics on Monday and Tuesday. It happened in Mississauga.
Lots of questions for security at the GoVaxx bus site in Mississauga. People in line being told there’s only 250 vaccine doses & no rapid test kits pic.twitter.com/hI1sBkUu8V
— Courtney Heels (@CourtHeelsCP24) December 21, 2021
It happened in Burlington.
Back at the Burlington GO station this morning hoping to get a rapid test. I arrived an hour earlier than yesterday and again there are about 1,000 people in line ahead of me. It doesn’t open until 7am. So here I am, back in the Walmart parking lot. pic.twitter.com/j8YktBqmBu
— Laurie Allan (@lajeer) December 21, 2021
It happened in Hamilton.
Truly sad to see seniors wait in line for hours in the cold for a #COVID19 booster dose in Freelton #HamOnt this morning. Others in wheel chairs in the snow. My sister arrived at 7:30am and this was the line. The GOVAXX bus opened at 9am. @CHCHNews @fordnation @cityofhamilton pic.twitter.com/kGJ8qMyVKg
— Nicole Martin (@nicolemartintv) December 20, 2021
It happened in Thorold.
I think my line placement in a favorable for the #GOVAXX clinic in Thorold this morning....now to wait until doors open at 10! pic.twitter.com/579iD7Hh61
— Kortekickass (He / Him) (@Kortekickass) December 21, 2021
Though there are obvious concerns about persons with young children, mobility impairments and special needs, clinics like the ones run by Michael Garron Hospital and East Toronto Health Partners offer things like expedited lines, separate entrances, and even sit-and-stay vaccinations to make immunization more accessible.
Of course, not everyone had to wait in painfully-long lines today, as both Ontario premier Doug Ford and Toronto mayor John Tory got their shots in public photo-ops.
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