Ontario extends booster deadline for long-term care staff until March 14
Published January 27, 2022 at 2:53 pm
Ontario is extending the deadline for long-term care workers to get a third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Staff in the sector had been given until Friday to get booster shots in order to stay on the job, but the date has now been pushed back to March 14.
A spokeswoman for the minister of long-term care says the move was prompted by pressures from the Omicron variant, including some vaccine appointments being delayed or cancelled due to outbreaks.
Vanessa De Matteis says the extension will allow staff to get third doses while maintaining staffing levels.
She says 77 per cent of long-term care staff who are eligible to get third doses had received them as of Sunday.
The province was reporting virus outbreaks in 56 per cent of long-term care homes as of Thursday and thousands of cases among workers and staff.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2022.
The Canadian Press
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