Mini COVID-19 vaccine clinic brings relief to Toronto neighbourhood

North York church becomes vaccination clinic A small church in North York has transformed itself into a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for seniors looking to get the shot.

TORONTO — More than 100 people over the age of 80 were vaccinated against COVID-19 at a local Toronto church Wednesday.

The shots come after months of worry and frustration, according to the seniors who got the shot at St. Fidelis Roman Catholic Parish Hall, near Keele Street and Highway 401.

Barbara Sellan’s 87-year-old mother was one of them.

“We have been apart as a family, like so many others across the province. This is an absolutely fantastic initiative by the Humber River Hospital,” she told CTV News Toronto. “We are so thankful it exists.”

Unlike the three mass vaccination sites that went online in Toronto Wednesday, the clinic at St. Fidelis is much smaller in scale.

Humber River Hospital staff set up the clinic in the gymnasium of the church. Many of the seniors in attendance are fellow parishioners who haven’t seen each other —face to face —in more than a year.

“So they came to our seniors and they are able to get vaccinated in a setting that is familiar to them in a setting of faith and setting of community,” organizer Elena DeMarchi-Ciarlandini told CTV News Toronto.

“I think it is important to listen to the community. They reached out to the hospital and we listened to their request and the success today is a true partnership between the hospital and the community,” Ruben Rodriguez of Humber River Hospital added.

Organizers say the operation ran smoothly with 120 people over the age of 80 receiving their shot at the neighbourhood clinic.