What better gift than Christmas Day booster shots? We talked to people who get hit on vacation in Toronto

Prior to receiving his COVID-19 booster shot on Christmas Day, Keyvan Csullog presented Tim Horton’s gift cards to staff who volunteered to work the holidays at a vaccination clinic run by the city of North York.

“It’s the least I can do for them by taking personal time to help us,” Csullog said Saturday after rolling up the sleeve of his red and white Christmas sweater for their third dose at Mitchell Field Community Center.

She downplayed the inconvenience of being hit on a holiday. “This is one of those things, leave that time on the couch or in your pajamas to do something important for yourself and others.” It’s “a little problem at lunchtime, then you come home and spend it with the family.”

Located at 89 Church Ave., east of Yonge Street and roughly midway between Sheppard and Finch Avenues, the center was one of two Toronto COVID-19 team vaccination clinics operating on Christmas Day while the highly contagious variant Omicron continues to circulate and the COVID-19 case count increases in Ontario. The other vaccination clinic open at Christmas was at the Thorncliffe Park Community Center.

Both will run again on Boxing Day.

On Saturday, a constant line of people waited outside Mitchell Field for their pre-booked time at the makeshift clinic, where Christmas music played and staff and vaccinators in holiday attire kept everything running smoothly and efficiently.

“My Christmas present from my husband,” laughed Carroll Sondermeyer. On Christmas morning, after opening presents with their four children, the couple headed to Mitchell Field for their photos.

While Sondermeyer hopes Christmas won’t become part of the family’s Christmas traditions, it has given them “a lot to talk about. It’s a monumental thing that we have it on Christmas Day. “

Carroll Sondermeyer (left) and her husband Robert.  Robert went on a small mission earlier this week and booked appointments for members of his family.  He and his wife were shot 10 minutes apart at Mitchell Field Community Center.

Another visitor to Mitchell Field on Saturday was Ben Fox. He made his reinforcement appointment three days ago. He is sure that the jab is necessary and the right thing to do.

“I understand that we will not get so sick if we contract COVID. I have two kids, so I make sure I can take care of them, reduce the spread ”and at the same time feel“ like you’re doing your part, like a good Torontonian, ”he said.

Mayor John Tory and Coun. Joe Cressy (Spadina – Fort York) visited Mitchell Field on Saturday afternoon to thank the approximately 30 staff members for volunteering to work over the holidays.

Tory said it was “comforting” that after the city and Toronto’s Department of Public Health increased the clinic’s capacity over the holidays, Toronto residents absorbed the additional 1,800 appointments this weekend.

He attributed the “team spirit” shared by people “who believe in the public service they are doing.”

Cressy, who is chair of the city’s board of health, said great progress is being made in vaccinating Toronto residents thanks to “everyone from the front-line workers who work on Christmas Day, to the residents they roll up their sleeves, even our civil service who came forward to volunteer for work. “

Everyone in this city came together and that is why we are in a position to face this next wave. “

According to statistics released by the city on Saturday, approximately 89 percent of Toronto residents ages 12 and older have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and nearly 87 percent have two doses.

About 30 percent of eligible residents have received their third dose. And as of December 24, more than 41 percent of children had received their first dose.



Reference-www.thestar.com

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