Beginning on Monday (March 22), Ontario residents 75 years and older can make COVID-19 vaccination appointments through the province’s online booking system.
Ontario premier Doug Ford made the announcement on Friday (March 19) during a media conference at an Etobicoke pharmacy.
“As of yesterday, over 50 per cent of all Ontario residents aged 80 and over have received the first shot,” Ford said. “Because of this progress, I can now say we’re ready to take the next step in our vaccine roll-out, and we’re able to do so ahead of schedule.”
Since launching its booking system this past Monday for residents 80 years and older, the government says more than 239,000 appointments have been scheduled for these residents to receive their first and second doses. After high demand early in the week, the province says the number of bookings has slowed.
The provincial government also announced the AstraZenca vaccine will be available to Ontario residents 60 years and older through pharmacies effective Monday (March 22). Previously, the vaccine was only available for those aged 60 to 64.
Currently, the AstraZenca vaccine is available at 350 pharmacies in Toronto, Windsor-Essex, and Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington. In the next two weeks, another 350 pharmacies across Ontario will begin administering the vaccine.
“So far, we’ve vaccinated more than 91,000 people through our drug stores,” Ford said. “In the coming weeks, we will have about 700 pharmacies offering vaccines all across the province.”
Eligible Ontarians can contact a participating pharmacy directly to make an appointment for the AstraZenca vaccine. Many primary care providers will also directly contacting eligible patients to book an appointment for the vaccine.
The province will soon provide details on additional pharmacy locations and the application process for getting an appointment.
The government also says it plans to double the number of pharmacies offering vaccines to 1,500 by the end of April, with pharmacies potentially delivering up to 40 per cent of all vaccinations by that time.
For the month of March, the government says Ontario is expecting to receive more than 1.4 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Ontario received limited allocations of the Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines in March, with 483,700 doses of the Moderna vaccine split over three weeks, and 194,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine received the week of March 8th.
As of March 22, Ontario residents 75 years of age or older, or those assisting them, can book appointments through the provincial booking system at www.ontario.ca/bookvaccine or by phone at 1-888-999-6488.
