Hospital network stopping COVID-19 vaccinations at 2 clinics due to supply shortage

Another major Toronto hospital network says it is temporarily halting some of its COVID-19 immunization efforts due to a shortage of vaccines.

Unity Health Toronto issued a statement Thursday night saying first-dose COVID-19 vaccination clinics at St. Michael's and St. Joseph's hospitals will be closed as of April 18. The network says the clinics will not open for first dose appointments until at least April 26.

"Existing appointments will NOT be cancelled, but may be changed to accommodate new clinic hours," the statement reads.

The move comes after two other major health networks in Toronto announced Wednesday they would be halting registrations or cancelling appointments entirely because of inadequate supplies of vaccines. Both the University Health Network and the Scarborough Health Network — which serve some of the hardest-hit communities in Ontario — will temporarily shutter mass vaccination clinics until more doses are distributed to their teams.

Unity Health says it's making the move to refocus available resources on high-risk groups identified by the province, such as people who live in hot-spot areas, congregate settings and health-care workers.

This will be done through pop-up and mobile clinics, as well as home-visit initiatives, according to the network.

Unity Health says it will provide more information about when immunizations can resume at the hospitals based on its supply of vaccine