Some pharmacies now offering Pfizer, Moderna vaccine appointments, province says

Pfizer and Moderna vaccine appointments are now available at more than 130 pharmacies for those 18 years of age and older, according to the provincial government.

The province’s COVID-19 vaccine website now lists 78 pharmacy locations in Toronto and Peel Region that are administering the Pfizer vaccine, while a total of 58 pharmacies in Durham Region, Hamilton, Ottawa, Windsor and York Region are providing doses of the Moderna vaccine.

Despite the government announcing earlier in the week that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine would be made available to pharmacies, a number of locations contacted by both 680 NEWS and CityNews said they were not immediately aware of the change or did not have any of the mRNA vaccines on hand just yet.

You can find which locations are scheduled to give out Pfizer doses here and which one’s are giving out the Moderna doses here.

Justin Bates, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association, says this is welcome news.

“It’s a significant milestone in the vaccination rollout program,” says Bates. “Anything that increases access to vulnerable populations and essential workers is going to be an important part of ensuring that we can put an end to this pandemic.”

Participating pharmacies will receive 150 doses per week, Bates said, with plans to use waitlists and possibly accept walk-ins to ensure supply doesn’t go to waste. He said the goal is to have all pharmacies distributing the Moderna and Pfizer mRNA vaccines by mid-June, though the timeline depends on supply.

Pharmacies are also continuing to administer the AstraZenca vaccine to individuals 40 years of age and older but Bates indicated supplies of those doses were nearly depleted as of Saturday, with just three per cent remaining across participating pharmacies.

He said pharmacies are expecting more shots at some point, adding his association is awaiting forthcoming guidance from a national immunization panel on the prospect of mixing first and second doses from different vaccines. If that happens, those pharmacies may start offering Pfizer or Moderna shots as second doses to Oxford-AstraZeneca recipients.

“We’re going to remain flexible,” he said.

There are currently 1,400 participating pharmacies administering vaccines across the province.

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report