Mayor John Tory announced the formation of Toronto’s Accessibility Task Force (ATF) on COVID-19 Vaccines to advise on enhanced support and access to the COVID-19 vaccine for people with disabilities.
The ATF was created as part of the City of Toronto’s COVID-19 Immunization Task Force (ITF) outreach efforts and TO Supports: Targeted Equity Action Plan and is a collaboration between the City and community partners. Given the high risks associated with COVID-19 for people with disabilities, the ATF is set to make recommendations to immediately reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and effectively address issues around accessibility.
The ATF builds on the City’s work to support access to vaccines for persons with disabilities through a $125,000 grant to the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto, which was announced on March 31.
Task Force members include Wendy Porch, Executive Director, Centre for Independent Living in Toronto (CILT) as task force Chair, and experts from Ontario Health Teams, CAMH, Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, North Yorkers for Disabled People, PACE, Reena, Safehaven Project for Community Living, Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, Surrey Place, Unity Health Toronto and Vibrant Healthcare Alliance.
The ATF met in late March and outlined their objectives:
to make recommendations to effectively close equity gaps in current vaccine planning and increase vaccination rates among people with disabilities and their caregivers
to share knowledge about COVID-19 infection risks and measures that reduce risks, and enhance testing and safety practices across disability communities
to identify, review and address concerns with COVID-19 vaccines and barriers to accessing the vaccine
The ATF has made two initial recommendations: to immediately prioritize people with disabilities who rely on daily service provision or who reside in congregate care settings in the vaccine roll-out; and that the City’s vaccine roll-out partners work with supportive housing and developmental service providers to immediately establish priority days for client vaccine bookings, identify mobile/outreach teams and provide vaccines directly to qualified agencies.
In response to the recommendations, quick action was taken by Toronto Public Health to register clients for immunization in cooperation with task force member agencies, with plans to establish such processes and systems in all areas of the city.
The task force may expand its membership to ensure all disabilities are represented to help the City effectively respond to the unique needs and vulnerabilities of disability communities. Public virtual town halls are being planned for late April or early May.
For more information, visit https://www.toronto.ca
