Here are the latest developments on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Monday:
More than 900,000 doses of vaccine administered in Toronto
Mayor John Tory said Toronto has “reached another milestone” after administering more than 900,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine doses so far.
To date, 907,070 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Toronto.
City officials said Toronto is the first local health unit in Canada to administer that many doses.
York Region moves to vaccinate residents aged 35+ in priority areas
York Region says it will begin to vaccinate residents aged 35 years and older in five priority areas effective Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
The five areas include the postal codes L4L, L6A, L4K, L4J (in Vaughan) and L3S (in Markham).
To find a clinic and book a vaccine, click here.
6 people injected with saline instead of COVID-19 vaccine at Vaughan hospital
A hospital system servicing York Region says six people were mistakenly injected with saline instead of a COVID-19 vaccine.
A statement from Mackenzie Health issued on Monday said the incident happened on March 28 at the Mackenzie Health COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic, which is located at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital.
“Saline is used to dilute the COVID-19 vaccine prior to administration. Receiving a saline injection does not cause any harm, however this should not have happened,” the statement said.
Confusion mounts over AstraZeneca vaccine shipments to Ontario amid delay reports
Confusion is mounting over possible delays to upcoming AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shipments to Ontario.
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Premier Doug Ford’s office released a statement Monday which said that, in addition to previously announced delays with Moderna doses, the premier was notified “by our officials to be prepared for delays to two shipments of AstraZeneca expected from the federal government later this month and next.”
A provincial official later added that Ontario had been expecting to receive around 389,000 doses this week and 194,500 during the week of May 3, but both deliveries may be delayed until the end of May.
The federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine allocation forecast doesn’t show figures for upcoming AstraZeneca shipments, however, and a federal official said future delivery schedules — other than one million doses that are expected sometime in June — have not been determined.
Ontario rejects efforts on paid sick leave, says expanding police power was mistake
The Ontario government rejected efforts to support essential workers with paid sick leave Monday while admitting its now-reversed moves to close playgrounds and grant police new enforcement powers had been a mistake.
Health experts and advocates have been calling on the government to bring in paid sick days and shut down non-essential workplaces for weeks, saying the measures could help the province fight soaring COVID-19 cases that are threatening to overwhelm the health-care system.
Ontario police forces to focus on education rather than enforcement of new powers
Ontario police forces said Monday that they’ll focus on educating the public about following new COVID-19 measures after the government expanded their powers in an effort to combat the pandemic’s third wave.
Status of cases in the GTA
Ontario reported 4,447 new coronavirus cases on Monday.
Of those:
- 1,299 were in Toronto
- 926 were in Peel Region
- 577 were in York Region
- 205 were in Durham Region
- 169 were in Halton Region
Ontario reports more than 4,400 new cases, 19 deaths
Ontario is reporting 4,447 new COVID-19 cases on Monday. The provincial total now stands at 421,442.
The death toll in the province has risen to 7,735 as 19 more deaths were recorded.
Resolved cases increased by 3,153 from the previous day. The government said 42,873 tests were processed in the last 24 hours.
As of 8 p.m. on Sunday, a total of 3,904,778 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered. That marks an increase of 66,897 vaccines in the last day, the lowest number of vaccines administered in two weeks. There are 346,005 people fully vaccinated with two doses.
Variants of concern in Ontario
Officials have listed breakdown data for the new VOCs (variants of concern) detected so far in the province which consist of the B.1.1.7 (first detected in the United Kingdom), B.1.351 (first detected in South Africa), and P.1 (first detected in Brazil).
The B.1.1.7 VOC is currently the dominating known strain at 36,579 cases, which is up by 2,467 since the previous day. There have been 104 confirmed B.1.351 variant cases, which is unchanged, and 211 P.1 variant cases, which is up by four.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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