The Last Shot
We asked people getting vaccinated at the city’s #DaysofVaxtion clinic blitz why they waited and what persuaded them to roll up their sleeves
Subway stations. Parks. Malls. All are playing host to pop-up clinics this weekend as part of the push to get 90 per cent of eligible Torontonians fully vaccinated. What persuaded some stragglers to roll up their sleeves?
“Pfizer, Moderna, vaccines, first shot, second shot!” a public health worker calls to the passing crowd, sounding like a game operator at the Ex, but in fact trying to lure commuters trudging through Warden subway station.
The prizes aren’t stuffed toys. They are saved human lives, possibly those of the steady trickle of people who stop, look and then roll up their sleeves, each jab pushing Toronto toward vaccination coverage that could help end the pandemic.
The clinic is part of #DaysofVaxtion, a blitz of COVID-19 vaccination pop-up clinics across Toronto, running from Thursday to Sunday,in subway stations, malls, schools, parks and even a bathhouse.
Almost 80 per cent of eligible Torontonians are fully vaccinated. The city is trying to drive that figure to 90 per cent to defang the fourth pandemic wave that is preying mostly on unvaccinated people who are keeping the virus circulating.
Star reporters visited several of the clinics asking people getting their first shot why they waited and what motivated them to finally get vaccinated. Vaccine mandates loomed large, with requirements for work, gym visits and more.
For others it was peer and family pressure, and the convenience of getting protected without having to make a special trip to a standalone city clinic.
Several admitted putting off vaccination for “fear” of vaccine side-effects, which experts say pose much less risk to people than COVID-19 and its Delta variant.
One urged other holdouts to put their fears aside and join the protected, saying: “It’s a breeze.”
Alessio Freire
“All my loved ones, all my friends, all my family got vaccinated. Everyone I care about is doing it, so I figured I might as well do it too.
“I was honestly scared of the vaccine — I didn’t want to mess anything up with my health…
“My union said they’re not forcing us to get it to work, nobody was forcing me. But I said ‘You know what? Everyone I love and care about it has got it, so I’m going to join them.’
“I saw a clinic here before and thought, ‘Hmm, it’s pretty convenient, I’m on my way home.’ I didn’t get it then but family members kept pushing me, ‘Get the vaccine, get the vaccine, you’re the only one who hasn’t.’
“So I searched online and saw they were doing it here again so I said, ‘Screw it, I’m going to get vaccinated.’”
Surjan Sandhu
“My friend and I want to go to the gym and vaccination is compulsory for us. They’re
forcing us to get the shots — we have to show the paper that says we’ve been vaccinated.
“I waited because I wasn’t really concerned about getting COVID. I didn’t believe the risk was so bad. I didn’t think I was going to get sick.
“My friends and family aren’t in Toronto — they’re all back home. The only reason I got vaccinated is I don’t want to stop going to the gym.
“Now that I’m vaccinated I can go. It’s people’s choice whether to get the shot, it’s up to them. But if the gym hadn’t forced me, I wouldn’t have got the shot.”
Pauline Baldwin
“I took the vaccine because of the passports — you’re going to need it to go anywhere.
“I hadn’t got it before because I was hearing all the bad backlash against the vaccine, I was afraid because I heard all the bad stuff about it. I’m still not afraid of COVID.
“What changed my mind was the talk about needing a vaccine passport to go anywhere. I definitely need it for work — I work as a housekeeper and I got a client refuse me the other day because I wasn’t vaccinated. That’s when I said ‘Forget it — I’ll just take it.’
“Then I just happened to walk by and saw the clinic in the subway station here and got my shot. I get my second dose in 21 days.
“I feel good.”
I got sick. I got scared. I went to the hospital. They released me, said I was just dehydrated. But I was sick, sick. My head hurt, I was throwing up, I couldn’t eat, I was weak. I was crawling on the floor, in the bathtub shaking, sweating, crying. When I coughed, I felt like my brain would come out. It wasn’t COVID, but after that, I decided I had to get vaccinated, because I didn’t want to get sick again.
Jennifer Big Canoe
Aaron Camp
“I was ordered by the court to do it. It’s part of my visitation agreement with my daughter. I had to get the vaccine in order to see her. My ex asked, and the courts agreed. I didn’t like that, because it took the choice away from me. I’m not anti-vax, but I kind of wanted to wait a little bit longer. I could fight it, but it would take me another year to see my daughter, so it was a pretty simple choice...
“I also have an anxiety disorder, so, for me, there was no way I was going to a big convention centre to get vaccinated. This is nice, it’s open, there aren’t a ton of people freaking out.”
Matt Wong
“I got an email that (drum and bass musician) Andy C is coming to Toronto on the 30th and I have to get (COVID) tested for it because I can’t get the second shot in time.
“I don’t even like going to inside places anymore. I feel the fun has been cut in half because of the masks. So, I’m doing this for concerts. I can’t wait.
“I’m a programmer, so jobs never forced me to (get vaccinated). I don’t have anyone else forcing me to get it. I wasn’t worried about getting the virus. I never stopped meeting up with people, over and over.
“Getting sick never occurred to me... I never get the flu shot. I also don’t like to get needles, maybe that was what kept me from getting vaccinated.”
Eric Castro
“We decided to get vaccinated because of the vaccine passport.
“My son (Michael) does sports, he’s a boxer, so in order for him to go to gyms he needs to get vaccinated. He’s already staying home from school, so we really didn’t want to keep him away from participating in his programs.
“I wasn’t really hoping to get the shot for the kids. I was indecisive for a while. I’ve been hearing about side-effects on the news. They say it’s a small chance, but it’s still a chance — you don’t know. I didn’t want anything to happen to him.
“But things are changing now. If you want to go somewhere, you need to be vaccinated.”
The Last Shot is an occasional series examining what it will take to reach the unvaccinated and move us past