狐狸视频

Volunteers step forward as U of T hosts downtown vaccine clinic on St. George campus

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Upasana Saha, a PhD student at U of T, helped set up a Toronto Public Health-approved vaccine clinic on the St. George campus that's operated by UHN, with the assistance of the university and Mount Sinai Hospital (photo by Johnny Guatto)

This time last year, Upasana Saha was planning to transform an art gallery at Mount Sinai Hospital into a COVID-19 assessment centre where patients could be tested for a new and dangerous disease.

One year later, Saha is part of a team that laid the groundwork for a Toronto Public Health-approved vaccine clinic housed in the 狐狸视频鈥檚 Exam Centre.

Launched last week, the clinic is being operated by the University Health Network (UHN), with significant participation by Sinai Health and U of T. It operates by appointment only and follows the and established by the province.

A senior manager at Sinai Health and PhD candidate at U of T鈥檚 Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Saha says the mood at the clinic is much more upbeat compared to last year鈥檚 assessment centre.

鈥淚n those early days we didn鈥檛 know too much about COVID-19 and how it spread,鈥 Saha said. 鈥淭here was high anxiety and a lot of nerves. Now that we鈥檙e vaccinating against a disease we learned about just over a year ago, the atmosphere is so much brighter.鈥

Stefan Juckes, a patient-facing learner from U of T鈥檚 Faculty of Dentistry, receives a COVID-19 vaccination at the U of T-hosted clinic on the St. George campus (photo by Johnny Guatto) 

The vaccine clinic, hosted on the St. George campus, is part of a university-wide effort to support the largest vaccine mobilization in Canadian history. At U of T Mississauga, a mass vaccination site operated by Trillium Health Partners and overseen by Peel Public Health plans to administer up to 2,000 shots a day, and to scale up to 4,000 later on.

U of T is ultimately planning to host vaccination sites on all three of its campuses, and to provide health-profession students with opportunities to get involved, said Salvatore Spadafora, a physician and senior adviser to the dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine who is also special adviser to the president and provost on COVID-19.

鈥淥ur main goal is to do what we can to partner with our hospitals and public health to serve our communities,鈥 Spadafora said. 鈥淥ur students have the same goal, and we are pleased to be able to help them achieve it.鈥

On Wednesday and Thursday of last week, the U of T-hosted clinic 鈥 located near McCaul and College Streets 鈥 was vaccinating health-care workers and patient-facing learners. That includes U of T students in medicine, pharmacy, social work and nursing, among other front-line fields.

By Friday, the plan was for the clinic to begin vaccinating members of the public 鈥 specifically people over age 80, another phase one priority group identified by the province.

U of T President Meric Gertler said he is pleased to see members of the U of T community offer their time and expertise to support the province鈥檚 mass immunization drive. He added that such initiatives align strongly with one of the university鈥檚 key priorities 鈥 to leverage the resources of our three campuses for the benefit of communities across the Toronto region.

鈥淔rom the start of the pandemic, members of the U of T community have shown remarkable resilience, creativity and a willingness to help others,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 continue to be immensely proud to see U of T and its health-care partners working together to support an unprecedented immunization campaign that is critical to Canada鈥檚 recovery.鈥

Erin Bearss and Lynn Wilson, both of U of T鈥檚 department of family and community medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, were an integral part of the local group of health organizations that got the U of T-hosted clinic on the St. George campus up and running.  

Bearss, who is also a staff physician in family health medicine and emergency medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, said it was 鈥渁ll hands on deck鈥 to turn the U of T exam facility into a vaccine site in just a couple of weeks.

鈥淚t really does bring us a sense of, 鈥業t鈥檚 going to get better. We鈥檙e going to get through this,鈥欌 said Bearss, who, in her role at Sinai Health, visited long-term care homes in January to administer vaccines to a hard-hit segment of the population.

鈥淢aybe it鈥檚 the first time in a long time that people have that sense of, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going to make it.鈥欌

Erin Bearss, of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and Mount Sinai Hospital, says it was 鈥渁ll hands on deck鈥 to turn the U of T exam facility into a vaccine site in just a few weeks (photo by Johnny Guatto) 

Wilson, who is vice-dean, clinical and faculty affairs at Temerty Faculty of Medicine, said she was delighted that U of T and its hospital partners were able to establish a vaccine clinic in a strategic downtown location close to mass transit on such a tight schedule. Yet, while the approval of vaccines is good news, she struck a note of caution about more contagious variants of COVID-19 that are currently leading to an uptick in cases in Ontario.

鈥淲ith experts warning of a possible third wave, it鈥檚 essential that we continue to follow public health precautions,鈥 she said.

Wilson added that the number of U of T students in health professions who are eager to support the vaccination efforts 鈥 more than 1,000 have volunteered so far 鈥 speaks volumes about the U of T community.

鈥淚t鈥檚 quite evident that we have a very caring community that are keen to help in whatever way they can in terms of this global crisis.鈥

Pharmacists are playing an integral role at the vaccine clinic. Under the leadership of Linda Dresser, assistant professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, the clinic鈥檚 pharmacy team is focused on vaccine preparation, which requires careful aseptic technique to ensure a steady flow of individual doses that are ready for injection.

鈥淧harmacists are playing an active role in Ontario鈥檚 vaccination campaign, both preparing and administering vaccines,鈥 said Dresser, who is the pharmacy director of the vaccine clinic and a UHN staff member.

鈥淭his clinic is an opportunity to serve our community, model an interdisciplinary team-based approach and build capacity to support the province-wide roll-out.鈥

U of T staff are also doing their part. Sitting at a desk behind a Plexiglass barrier, Tim Machin spoke with patients after they got their shot and informed them when they would be due for a second dose. A theatre actor and musician, Machin is also a casual worker in U of T鈥檚 , where he has played the part of an ailing patient in simulations to support medical teaching and assessments.

Machin says many of the program鈥檚 exercises aim to teach students about 鈥減atient-centred care鈥 鈥 an approach he says he鈥檚 employing at the vaccine clinic to make sure everyone who walks through the door feels as comfortable as possible.

Susan Camm, the clinic manager and clinical team lead at U of T Health & Wellness, said those working at the U of T-hosted clinic are eager to get as many needles in arms as possible.

鈥淧eople are thrilled to participate,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e have had tons of volunteers: physicians, pharmacists, nurses and people from all over campus. Deans and associate deans are saying. 鈥業 can come in and work as a clerical.鈥欌

Meanwhile, many more U of T students are waiting in the wings to lend their support once the site ramps up to a vaccination rate of more than 1,000 doses per day by the end of the month.

鈥淧eople understand how important this is,鈥 Camm said. 鈥淲e have a huge volume of health-care learners across disciplines 鈥 nursing, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech language therapy and dieticians 鈥 all of them keen and eager to get in.

鈥淲e鈥檙e part of the community at large and we want to help.鈥

UTC