In Canada, most people over the age of 18 will not be able to get their first vaccine before May 24, 2021, and they may get the second one before the end of September.

Right now, at 50 years of age or less, it is virtually impossible to get the vaccine anywhere in Toronto without being from an endangered residential area or working in a high-risk environment.

Today we made a quite a few phone calls to see if and how we can register for the Covid-19 vaccine in the city of Toronto.

Pharmacies, which in theory should take reservations, make reservations by phone or via their websites, all over the city are without vaccines.

When calling any pharmacy in Toronto, you will hear an automatic recording that pharmacies currently have no vaccines.

When trying to register on websites of hospitals that perform vaccinations, it will not be possible if you are not in high-risk group.

The official website of the city of Toronto is of no help either. You will go around in circles.

The main phone number of the Toronto Public Health Hotline will not help you much, because when you click through the extensions you will come across the messages I wrote about above.

Pharmacies advise to try calling again in a week.

As an immigrant, you can use a special option, which we wrote about in the article on May 1:

Toronto, a sanctuary city for immigrants from around the world, will provide vaccination to its residents without Ontario Health Insurance Plan

It is best to use the help of the FCJ Refugee Center and arrange an appointment through them.

Please send an email to vaccine@fcjrefugeecentre.org 

And in the email, include your full name, date of birth, residential address (within the city of Toronto) and contact telephone number.

The center will arrange an appointment for the vaccine on your behalf. It will be a good few days before you get the vaccine. If you are lucky.

But if you are 50 years old or younger, you are not in any risk group, you would like to get vaccinated and you can travel – better fly to the United States or Europe. You get vaccinated faster and completely free.

In the United States, vaccination is free. You can only be asked for your home address. Staying with friends, family or in a hotel, you will be able to easily fulfill this formality. Many pharmacies in the United States offer an online appointment for Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine.

Half of the city of New York has already been vaccinated with the second dose of vaccines, and restaurants there are beginning to receive guests at their full capacity.

Another possibility is to fly to Europe, to your country of origin, and get a single dose vaccine there, while visiting your family or doing business.

For example, every person born in Poland has an individual personal number on the basis of which he or she can receive the vaccine for free, e.g. while walking around the beautiful old city center of Krakow. It is enough to visit one of the mobile points in the city. You can also register at one of the clinics or hospitals. All adults can register and receive vaccines in Poland.

Most European Union countries have similar options for their citizens.

The only downside is the obligation of expensive hotel quarantine after returning from the States or Europe to Canada.

However, considering the delay in vaccination in Canada, the foreign option for those interested may turn out to be more attractive than waiting until the end of September for full vaccination.