More than 1.2 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Toronto to date and more than four-in-ten of eligible residents have at least the first dose.

And starting Monday May 3, residents 18 and older in 53 hotspot postal codes are now eligible.

Fire Chief Matthew Pegg is the city’s point man on the vaccine rollout.

“Between 8 this morning and 1 this afternoon, 40,144 people have successfully booked their first dose and second dose vaccine appointments in city operated clinics,” said Pegg.”As of 1 this afternoon, there 3,900 remaining for this week.”

Toronto’s vaccine strategy to get vaccines to thirteen hardest hit regions is making a difference according to Mayor John Tory.

“In scarborough for example, we are seeing the vaccination rate has gone from below 15 percent at the start of April to almost 45 percent at the end of April, that is real progress.”

There’s no plan to mix vaccines for first and second doses, but Toronto Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa says it’s being investigated.

“The benefits to the mix and match approach to vaccination is under active study to detemine the benefits as medicine is confident that mixing one vaccine for the first dose, and a different vaccine for the second dose isn’t going to harm you,” said De. de Villa.

This warning despite a new data that shows only a small percentage of the millions of Canadians who’ve received their first dose developed COVID. And an even smaller share of that total have fallen seriously ill or died.

The new data serve as a reminder that the first dose doesn’t provide foolproof protection against severe outcomes.