Province on track to administer COVID-19 doses to 65 per cent of residents by end of May

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Published May 12, 2021 at 6:34 pm

Vaccinations

More than half of the adults in Ontario have received their COVID-19 shot.

The province announced the milestone Wednesday, saying they have administered first doses of the COVID-19 vaccines to over 50 per cent of residents aged 18 and over.

In all, more than a million doses have been delivered since the start of May and the province says it remains on track to administer first doses to 65 per cent of Ontarians by the end of this month.

“Ontario continues to ramp up our vaccine rollout, and we remain focused on administering doses to those who are most at risk,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

“With an increased supply of vaccines, we continue to make it easier than ever to receive a vaccine in hot spot areas to help stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect our hospital capacity.”

The provincial government had committed to allocating 50 per cent vaccine shipments (over 500,000 doses) during the weeks of May 3 and May 10 to hot spot communities and it has gone over that target.

As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday night, the targeted rollout to the hot spot communities, identified by postal code, has allowed over 54 per cent of residents aged 18 and over, and who live or work in a hot spot, to get their first dose of the vaccine.

The hot spot locations now have a higher vaccine coverage rate higher than the non-hot spot communities, which reverses at the trend over the previous two weeks.

Over 3,000 doses have been administered to date to employees who can’t work from home by Mobile units at medium-sized workplaces in Peel, Toronto and York.

Employer-led workplace clinics continue to run in Peel Region, supplementing the capacity of the public run vaccination clinics.

The province will be expanding booking eligibility for vaccines appointments. Beginning on Thursday, individuals aged 40 and over can get vaccinated at mass clinics through the provincial booking system and call centre or directly through local public health units.

“By expanding eligibility, increasing immunization access through multiple channels and a steady vaccine supply coming into the province, we are advancing steadily toward our goal of administering first doses to over 65 per cent of Ontario adults by the end of May,” Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said.

“In partnership with local public health units, we continue to expand opportunities for more Ontarians to get vaccinated with the ongoing rollout of workplace clinics and mobile units, targeting hot spot areas to help stop the spread of this deadly virus.”

As of 8 p.m. on May 11, more than 6.4 million vaccine doses have been administered throughout the province. Over 93 per cent of residents aged 80 and over and 92 per cent of residents aged 75 to 79 have received at least one dose.

As well, over 40,000 Ontarians are fully immunized, including 96 per cent of long-term care residents.

Visit the government website at covid-19.ontario.ca to find out if you are in one of the province’s hot spots and are eligible to be vaccinated. Mobile and pop-up clinics in hot spots will be promoted by local public health units.

To find a pharmacy offering a COVID-19 vaccine and book an appointment, visit ontario.ca/pharmacycovidvaccine.

 

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