Toronto sets single-day North American record with 26,771 doses administered

A mass vaccination clinic held Sunday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto administered close to 27,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, setting a new North American single-day record.

Public health officials say 26,771 doses were administered to more than 25,000 adults and almost 1,300 youth as part of the “Our Winning Shot” initiative, breaking the previous record of 17,003 set back in April at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas.

Officials say they eclipsed the Canadian record with of 10,470 doses, which was set back in May at a Thorncliffe Park clinic, just before 2:30 p.m. ET.

At around 8:30 p.m., Mayor John Tory tweeted that they had reached their goal of administering 25,000 doses.

25,000 doses ✅????#TorontoVaccineDay @MLSEPR @MGHToronto @scotiabank @cityoftoronto pic.twitter.com/bVqMdPPzEy

— Scotiabank Arena (@ScotiabankArena) June 28, 2021

A total of 981 first doses were given out while 25,793 second doses were administered. Mayor Tory himself received his second dose on Sunday. He got the Moderna shot after receiving AstraZeneca for his first dose back on April 10.

“I had my first dose with AstraZeneca and I had my second dose with Moderna and I just want people to know because there are people that have a lot of questions about this, it’s been a bit confusing,” Tory told those waiting to get vaccinated at the clinic, trying to allay concerns about mixing doses. “It’s safe to do what I did, what some of you did – I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t safe.”

The majority of shots given at the clinic were Moderna, while doses of Pfizer were reserved for anyone between the ages of 12 and 17.

Toronto has administered more than 3.2 million vaccine doses since the start of the immunization campaign with 76 per cent of Torontonians having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while more than 35 per cent have now been fully vaccinated.

As of Saturday, anyone between the ages of 12 to 17 who live in Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Peel, Porcupine, Simcoe-Muskoka, Toronto, Waterloo, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph and York are eligible to book their accelerated second vaccine dose appointments.

Starting Monday at 8 a.m., all adults who received a first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine at least eight weeks ago or a first dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccine at least 28 days ago will be eligible to book an accelerated second doses.