Ontarians 70+, AstraZeneca recipients can start booking COVID-19 boosters
Posted November 5, 2021 9:53 pm.
Last Updated November 6, 2021 8:57 am.
Eligible Ontario residents can start booking a COVID-19 booster shot on Saturday morning.
The provincial booking portal for third doses will go live at 8 a.m.
The categories for eligibility include being over 70 years of age, being a front-line healthcare worker or being part of a first nation and indigenous community.
Additionally, any residents who received two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine also qualify for a booster.
Members of the eligible groups only qualify for a third dose if there has been a six month interval since their previous dose.
Provincial health officials have said individuals can receive either mRNA vaccine (Pfizer of Moderna) as a booster shot — regardless of which vaccine they received for their first or second doses.
Residents can also book through select pharmacies or directly through public health units using their own booking systems.
RELATED: Ontario releasing details on plans to roll out vaccine to kids
Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health, recommends all Ontarians get at third dose when it becomes available to them.
The City of Toronto says 40,000 thousand appointments will be available, starting on Saturday, for eligible residents.
Toronto Public Health says third shots of an mRNA vaccine will be administered at Toronto’s five city-run mass immunization clinics — as well as hospital clinics and more than 450 pharmacies across the city.
Appointments must be made and no walk-ins for booster shots will be accepted.
We've opened up 40,000 appointments for eligible residents to get their third vaccine dose at City-run clinics.
Book your appointment here: https://t.co/ynzZDEST26
— John Tory (@JohnTory) November 6, 2021
Residents in Peel Region must also book an appointment, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lawrence Loh.
“Please note that while we continue to reserve walk-in capacity for first and second doses, third doses must be booked online.”
Loh noted on Friday that although the province is beginning the rollout of third doses, the overwhelming majority of residents with two doses still have significant protection against COVID-19.
“The first two doses of vaccine, and the manor in which they have been delivered in Canada, provide robust immunity for most groups.”
Loh says that immunity is “waning gradually, not quickly. Even for those who have been identified for boosters.”
