Shoppers pharmacies begin offering 24/7 COVID-19 vaccines today
Posted April 20, 2021 12:30 pm.
Last Updated April 21, 2021 11:00 am.
Ontario and Shoppers Drug Mart announced on Tuesday that the company’s pharmacies will start offering 24-7 COVID-19 vaccinations for people over the age of 40.
Twenty locations, including 16 in the hot spot communities of Toronto, Peel Region and York Region, will start offering the AstraZeneca shot as soon as Wednesday.
Participating Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies offering jabs 24 hours a day, seven days a week include:
- Brampton – 10661 Chinguacousy, Building C, Fletchers Meadow
- Brampton – 160 Main Street South
- Brampton – 49 Mountainash Road
- Brampton – 34 Avondale Boulevard
- Brampton – 1 Kennedy Road South
- Brampton – 25 Great Lakes Drive
- Etobicoke – 5230 Dundas St. W.
- Etobicoke – 123 Rexdale Boulevard
- Mississauga – 2470 Huronontario Street
- North York – 3975 Jane Street
- Oakville – 2501 Third Line, Building B
- Scarborough – 1235 McCowan Road
- Scarborough – 2330 Kennedy Road
- Scarborough – 2901 Sheppard Avenue East
- Scarborough – 255 Morningside Avenue
- Toronto – 1500 Woodbine Avenue
- Toronto – 1500 Avenue Road
- Toronto – 2345 Yonge Street
- Toronto – 770 Lawrence Avenue West
- Vaughan – 4000 Hwy #7
Residents can book online through the Shoppers’ website. The pharmacies will accept some walk-ins but recommend calling ahead before showing up.
The province says that when it begins to receive more vaccine supply from the federal government, it will expand 24-7 COVID-19 vaccinations to additional hot spot areas.
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Ontario set a record for daily doses administered on Tuesday with more 125,000 COVID-19 shots going into arms.
Dr. Isaac Bogoch says the increase from the typical 100,000 doses can be attributed to more AstraZeneca being administered.
“(The) Current rate is reasonable based on supply and can hopefully rise to 150,000 a day when larger shipments of Pfizer arrive,” said Bogoch on Twitter.
The demand for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has reversed course as the shot has become available to younger residents this week.
With people aged 40 and older now able to get the shot at some 1,400 pharmacies across the province, the CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association says the turnout has been massive.
“The phones have been ringing off the hook,” says Justin Bates. “We are seeing all of these appointments booked up.”
The receptiveness to the shot from the younger age group represents a stark contrast to the surrounding uncertainty in recent weeks.
Kerry Bowman from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto tells CityNews that the change in demand could have profound effects on Ontario’s vaccine rollout.
“If there is high uptake in the cohort, coupled with increased availability in the weeks and months ahead, this could be a huge improvement for all of us,” says Bowman.
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The province announced the change to age limits on Sunday after federal health minister Patty Hajdu said in a new conference that it was within the provinces’ jurisdiction to change the age eligibility for the vaccine.
Provinces across the country had previously stuck to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization’s (NACI) recommendation to only offer the shot to anyone 55 and over due to a small risk of a extremely rare blood clots.
Many Ontario physicians took to social media to express their frustration with the province’s lack of action on the issue ahead of Sunday’s announcement.
While Health Canada has given the all clear for any adult to get the AstraZeneca shot, NACI has yet to alter their recommendations. The panel has a news conference schedule for Tuesday afternoon but postponed their updated guidance until later this week.
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have also dropped the age requirement to 40. Quebec has made those 45 and older eligible for the shot.
More than 700,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Canada and about two million doses have been shipped.
