Forty per cent of adults in Toronto have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to city officials.
More than 1,016,400 people aged 18 and older have now received their first jab, the city said in a statement issued on Saturday.
The city’s milestone comes after Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Friday that 40 per cent of adults in the province have received their first shot.
“This is encouraging news for our city, for our province and for our country as we work to get everyone vaccinated as soon as possible,” Mayor John Tory said in a video statement.
Roughly 20 per cent of doses were administered by city-run immunization clinics and the remaining were administered by the Team Toronto network of more than 300 vaccination partners in smaller clinics, hospitals and pop-up clinics.
In Toronto, eligible groups that can currently receive a vaccine include:
Anyone 55 or older
Those 45 and older from any of the 53 hot spot postal codes in Toronto identified by the province
Elementary or secondary education workers working or living in any of the 53 hot spot postal codes
Those 18 and older from any of the 13 Team Toronto hot spot postal codes
Anyone who is pregnant
Licensed childcare providers
Vaccine appointments can be reserved on the provincial booking site, by calling the provincial booking line at 1-833-943-3900, or at select hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.
Last week, Toronto announced a two-week sprint strategy to triple vaccine doses in the city’s 13 hottest neighbourhoods, based on postal code. The city says 36.6 per ent of adults within those 13 hot zones have received their first dose.
On Monday, those aged 18 and over living in any of the province’s 114 hot spots, identified by postal code, will be able to book a vaccine appointment through the provincial booking site.
All adults in Ontario will be able to book their first shot through the provincial portal in the week of May 24.
With an increase in vaccine supply expected to flow into the province this month, the city says more than 80,000 new appointments have been added to city-run immunization clinics, including 24,000 for the week of May 3 to 9.
“So, while we take just a minute to mark the 40 per cent goal being met early, I want you to know that we will not rest until everyone has received their first vaccination, everyone has received their second vaccination, we get the lockdown lifted in between and we truly put this pandemic behind us,” Tory said.
Ontario is set to receive roughly 800,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for each week in May, increasing to 940,000 per week for each week in June.
The province is also expecting another shipment of 388,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine on May 10.
