Yes, in downtown Toronto, on 359 Yonge Street between Dundas and Gerrard Streets, is a strip club which has been repurporsed as a place to get your covid shots. Club Zanzibar on Yonge Street is the latest and most visible in a series of strip clubs which have been repurposed as “low-barrier” vaccination sites as they are being shut down to prevent the spread of Covid.
You don’t need an appointement, ID, or proof of address to get a Pfizer or Moderna shot here. It is open from 10AM to 6PM daily, in conjunction with The University Health Network partnering with, predictably, Maggie’s Toronto Sex Workers Action Project.
Who would be helped by this act of generosity? Well, not just members of the sex trade. Homeless people as well, who also by and large have no ID or fixed address. And not to mention undocumented workers. It’s not just something the United States has. It is also open to the general public as well. Anyone can get a first, second, or booster shot here without the higher barrier to entry that would leave out the most vulnerable in society, who often have no identification papers, and no fixed address.
The provincial government, like reactionary governments everywhere, often lose sight of the fact that the poor also get covid and can spread it to the rich. Getting rid of infectious disease means getting rid of it for everyone. No government in human history has ever gotten rid of prostitution, so you might as well make sure they are protected against disease so they don’t pass it on to their richer clients.
Zanzibar will try its best to accommodate those with mobility issues, but as a warning, their bathrooms are not wheelchair-accessible.
Visits: 96
