Toronto strip club set to vaccinate sex workers

Zanzibar Tavern will be doling out COVID-19 vaccines Friday afternoon.

Maggie’s Toronto Sex Workers Action Project is running the clinic at the strip club near Yonge Street and Gerrard Street West from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The location will focus on providing first doses to sex workers and other marginalized communities who have been “left behind in the pandemic.”

We're running a vaccine clinic at Zanzibar because the City has shamed + degraded SW at every turn through the pandemic, even blaming us for the spread of COVID.

SW are deeply invested in public health + safety. That's why we show up + fight back. #TOpolihttps://t.co/OTXN8pyc7X

— Maggie's Toronto Sex Workers Action Project (@MaggiesToronto) May 31, 2021

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In partnership with Unity Health and Sherbourne Health, organizers say the site is a “low-barrier, no-surveillance” way to safely access shots.

“Our clinic is providing first doses only of Pfizer through a drop-in format. There are no appointments,” the advocacy organization said in a statement.

“Participants will be required to provide a name of their choice and birthdate on a consent form. We do not require a health card, proof of address, or any identification. After receiving the vaccine, participants will be given a paper certificate which can be taken to any other clinic for second doses when they’re available.”

Maggie’s claims the Ford government has targeted strip clubs during the pandemic, shutting them down province-wide without applying the same sanctions to other nightlife venues that reported larger COVID-19 outbreaks.

The organization says the government did not:

• consult dancers on occupational health and safety practices for re-opening safely
• create access to emergency benefits for sex workers

“[The clinic] is also a demonstration of sex workers’ continued leadership in keeping our communities safe, despite the government stigmatizing and further marginalizing our work, our clients, and our workspaces.”

Calls are growing louder for Premier Doug Ford to reopen parts of the economy as Ontario reports fewer than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for a fourth day in a row.

Earlier this week, Ford said he is cautiously optimistic that the province could reopen just ahead of schedule but denied putting the economy first and ahead of students and teachers.

The first dose vaccination rate in Ontario is nearing 70 per cent, beyond where the province said they needed to be for Step 1 of the reopening plan to begin.

The reopening plan outlines that 60 per cent of residents would need the first dose for the plan to kick in on June 14.