Vaccine appointments to open for people age 75 and older, AstraZeneca shot eligibility to expand to 60 and older
Published March 19, 2021 at 2:26 pm
If you’re 75 or older, you can book a vaccination appointment through Ontario’s online booking system next week and if you’re 60 or older, you can book an AstraZeneca shot at a participating pharmacy in the coming days.
On March 19, Premier Doug Ford and retired General Rick Hillier said that since more than 50 per cent of residents aged 80 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the province is expanding appointments through its online booking system to individuals aged 75 and over ahead of schedule.
People 75 and older can start booking appointments on Monday, March 22, 2021.
“The progress we are making on our Vaccine Distribution Plan demonstrates what can be done when we unleash the full potential of Team Ontario,” Ford said in a statement.
“Thanks to the efforts of an army of frontline health care heroes and volunteers, we are getting needles in arms even faster than we had imagined. All we need now is a steady and reliable supply of vaccines from the Federal government to ensure anyone who wants one, gets one as soon as possible so we can all stay safe.”
Since the provincial booking system was launched on March 15, more than 239,000 appointments have been scheduled for the first and second doses. Individual public health units also operate their own booking systems and are taking appointments for people included in phase 1 (long-term care residents, people aged 80 and older, frontline health care workers and Indigenous adults) of the province’s vaccine rollout.
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The province says that over 1.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across the province.
Ford also said that as of March 22, 2021, participating pharmacies and primary care settings (such as family doctors’ offices) will offer vaccination appointments to individuals aged 60 and over.
Residents can contact a participating pharmacy (as of now, only pharmacies in Toronto, Windsor and Kingston are involved in the program) directly to make an appointment. Primary care providers with vaccines will contact eligible patients directly.
The province said it’s expanding its pharmacy program, with another 350 pharmacies set to be brought on board in the next two weeks. Up to 1,500 pharmacies could be included in the program by the end of April.
“Ontario’s vaccine distribution plan is now well underway,” Hillier said in a statement.
“We are grateful to the army of diverse teams – the health care practitioners, IT specialists, data analysts, the dedicated individuals working in logistics and many others – for their outstanding service and commitment to put the needed processes in place to make this happen.”
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