COVID-19: Latest developments in the Greater Toronto Area on March 28

Here are the latest developments on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Sunday.

Toronto’s mayor is urging anyone 70 years of age or older to get vaccinated.

Mayor John Tory said supply issues of the vaccine have been resolved, and the city is ramping up its rollout of the shots.

He said he won’t be satisfied until all the vaccination appointments are “sold out.”

Two more city-run mass immunization clinics are set to open in the city on Monday, including one at Malvern Community Recreation Centre in Scarborough and Mitchell Field Arena in North York.

The clinics will operate from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week for those who are eligible and have confirmed appointments.

2:08 City of Toronto expands vaccine clinic appointments to residents 70+ in bid to fill empty spots

Michael Garron Hospital and the Toronto East Health Network opened up a vaccination standby list for those who are part of the province’s Phase 2 populations, but the website crashed shortly after it opened up due to high volume, the Toronto East Health Network said.

In a statement issued Sunday, vice president of program support at Michael Garron Hospital Wolf Klassen said that in around 30 hours, the list received over 60,000 submissions.

“At this time we are no longer accepting names for our stand-by list,” Klassen said.

“We are grateful to those eligible individuals who signed up as this will help ensure we get COVID-19 vaccines into as many arms as possible and that no dose will be wasted.”

Officials said that extra shots will only be given to individuals who qualify under the provincial government’s plan for leftover doses, in order of eligibility under the distribution framework.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce has sent a letter to the federal government, calling on them to prepare for the availability of COVID-19 vaccines for children and youth.

Lecce sent the letter to Health Minister Patty Hajdu, Families, Children and Social Development Minister Ahmed Hussen, and Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand, requesting that they plan for the procurement and distribution of vaccines for students and children.

Lecce said Canada must immediately procure “a robust supply of vaccine from a diversified range of potential suppliers” for children.

He also asked that Health Canada get ready to “rigorously and rapidly review” the vaccines and, if they are safe, approve them.

Lecce also called for resources to be dedicated to education around youth vaccinations.

Ontario reported a total of 2,448 new coronavirus cases on Sunday.

Of those:

• 780 were in Toronto
• 356 were in Peel Region
• 278 were in York Region
• 219 were in Durham Region
• 45 were in Halton Region

Ontario reported 2,448 cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 343,140.

This marks the fourth day in a row that the province has reported more than 2,000 cases. On Saturday, 2,453 cases were reported, which was the largest single-day increase in more than two months.

A total of 317,408 COVID-19 cases are considered resolved, which is up by 1,543 and is 92.5 per cent of all confirmed cases.

Nineteen new deaths were also reported on Sunday, bringing the provincial death toll to 7,327.

As of 8 p.m. Saturday, 1,981,282 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Ontario, marking an increase of 64,950 over 24 hours.

So far, 309,285 people in the province are considered to be fully vaccinated.

Ontario is set to receive more than one million COVID-19 vaccine doses this week, according to the federal government.

The province is expecting to receive 583,400 AstraZeneca doses from the United States and 466,830 Pfizer doses, for a total of 1,050,230.

A batch of Moderna shots that were allocated for Ontario last week were delayed, and are also expected to arrive this week.

— With files from The Canadian Press