Ontario anticipates all adults to be eligible for COVID-19 vaccine starting week of May 24

With an influx of new vaccine doses scheduled to arrive in Ontario over the coming weeks, the province is planning to make all adults 18 years of age and older eligible to book their COVID-19 vaccination starting the week of May 24.

That plan is dependent on vaccine supply.

The age eligibility will first drop to 30 years and older starting the week of May 17, before lowering further to 18 and over the following week.

“This is exciting news,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott said. “The way out of the pandemic is vaccines, and a light at the end of the tunnel grows brighter every day.”

The province will also be allocating one million more doses over the next three weeks to the 114 hot spots. Residents of the hot spots that are 18+ will be able to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment the week of May 3 using the provincial booking system.

“This will allow the province and our partners, to further accelerate our vaccine rollout and get more shots into arm,” she said. “This includes a focus on getting vaccines to those most at risk,” said Elliott.

 

The first group of people who can’t work from home will be eligible the week of May 3, and the second group, which includes grocery store workers, retail workers and restaurant workers, will be eligible the week of May 10. The full list can be found below.

There will also be a pharmacy pilot launched at 16 locations in Toronto and Peel Region hot spots in which the Pfizer vaccine will be administered to those 55 years of age or older.

Each pharmacy will receive 150 doses per week for the three-week pilot starting April 30.

The government also says it will allow those with high-risk health conditions to get vaccinated at mass sites starting on Monday.

Ontario will be receiving over four million doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the month of May and just under 400,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. It’s unknown how many doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine and AstraZeneca vaccine the province will be getting.

Based on the supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Ontario is keeping the eligibility in pharmacies at 40+ for that specific vaccine.

Approximately 40 per cent of adults 18+ in Ontario are on track to have their first dose of the vaccine by May 1.

A total of 4,907,203 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Ontario.

The province says 365,166 people have been fully inoculated.

According to Wednesday’s daily report, over 116,000 doses had been given in the province in the past 24 hours.

Premier Doug Ford remains in self-isolation after a staff member he had close contact with tested positive for COVID-19. He has not since tested negative.

Below is the full list of the workers who cannot work from home. The first group is eligible May 3 and the second group is eligible May 10.