The Ontario government is further expanding eligibility to book a COVID-19 vaccine during the week of May 10th.
As of 8 a.m. on Tuesday (May 11), people who cannot work from home will be eligible to book a vaccine. These include workers in grocery stores, drug stores, restaurants and liquor stores, social services and justice system workers, public transit workers, veterinarians and veterinary teams, waste management workers, and more. For a full list of eligible workers, visit the Ontario government website.
Also on Tuesday, people with at-risk health conditions will be able to book a vaccine. This includes people with immune deficiencies and autoimmune disorders, stroke and cerebrovascular disease, dementia, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, sickle cell disease, substance use disorders, and more.
As of 8 a.m. on Thursday (May 13), anyone in Ontario turning 40 or older in 2021 will be eligible to book an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at a mass immunization clinic. Eligible people can schedule an appointment through the provincial booking system at ontario.ca/bookvaccine, or directly through those public health units that use their own booking system.
The province has also expanded the use of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in pharmacies in hot spot areas for anyone 18 years of age and older. In Toronto and Peel, nearly 80 pharmacy locations are offering the Pfizer vaccine, with the Moderna vaccine available at as many as 60 pharmacies Durham, Hamilton, Ottawa, Windsor-Essex and York regions.
Ontario is also expanding the list of people who are eligible to book an appointment to receive their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier than four months after their first dose. This includes all First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals and all frontline hospital staff, medical first responders (including paramedics, firefighters, and police who provide medical first response), nurses and personal support workers and essential caregivers in long-term care homes and retirement homes, and more.
For a full list of people eligible to receive their second dose at a shortened interval people, visit the Ontario government website. Eligibility for booking will begin by the end of the week of May 10, 2021 and booking details will be provided in the coming days.
Around 800,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in Ontario per week at the start of May, ramping up to 940,000 doses per week by the end of May. The province states it is on track to have administered first doses to 65 per cent of Ontarians aged 18 and over by the end of May.
