Ontarians 18+ will be eligible for COVID-19 boosters at 3-month interval

All Ontario adults three months removed from a second dose will be eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot next week as the province speeds up its third dose rollout in the face of the new Omicron variant.

The province has confirmed that anyone 18 and older will be eligible for a booster as of Monday, Dec. 20, provided they are 84 days removed from their second dose.

“Every single person, please get vaccinated,” said Premier Doug Ford, speaking at Queen’s Park on Wednesday afternoon.

Effective immediately, anyone who was already eligible for boosters at the previous six-month interval can now move appointments up to three months since their second dose.

The province says large companies will help run workplace and community clinics and some settings like pharmacies can start offering walk-in boosters to anyone 18 and older as of Friday.

“To hit these new targets we are urgently setting up mass vaccination sites,” said Ford. “We’ve already started communicating with employers to execute our provincewide vaccine blitz.”

“I need every business to ask if they can host a clinic or make their businesses available.”

Eligibility for boosters to all adults was initially set for Jan. 4, but the province is moving to act against the fast spreading Omicron variant. The government expanded vaccine booster eligibility to all residents 50 and older on Monday.

RELATED: Ontario introducing 50 per cent capacity limits at large indoor sports, entertainment venues

Also on Wednesday, the province launched its holiday testing plan to distribute two million rapid tests at pop-up sites in settings like libraries, malls, transit hubs and liquor stores.

Free rapid tests will be available at 660 LCBO locations across the province.

Ford made the announcements alongside Health Minister Christine Elliott, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore.

The news on accelerated boosters comes a day after Moore said he would recommend Ford’s government take additional measures to combat the rapidly spreading variant.

“I do believe there will be a discussion in the coming days about what additional measures we may need,” said Moore, during his Ontario COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday.

Ford was asked Wednesday if more lockdown measures could be on the way, with the premier saying “everything is on the table,” but adding that vaccines are the best way to combat the spread.

Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table called for the acceleration of booster shots on Wednesday, but said third doses alone may not be enough to ward off the current surge.

In a series of tweets, the science table said “boosters won’t stop Ontario’s fifth wave right now, they take time to protect a population. But they will protect you.”

Dr. Peter Juni, Director of the Science Table, said Monday he believes mass vaccination centres should be reopen across the province, but also said that vaccinations alone won’t be enough to combat the variant. He says some public health measures should return — including capacity limits in high-risk settings.

Moore said the regional approach to public health restrictions was designed with the Delta variant in mind and Omicron poses a different threat. He says any new recommendations for restrictions or health measures will be on a provincewide level.

The province announced some new restrictions in long-term care and retirement settings on Tuesday in an effort to protect residents and staff from the new variant.

During his briefing, Moore touted the availibility of vaccines and boosters when asked why more protective measures were not being announced for the general public at the same time as the long-term care restrictions.

“We will be responsive to the data,” said Moore.

Health experts said Omicron is on track to become the dominant strain in Ontario. On Monday, the province’s panel of expert advisers on COVID-19 estimated the new variant makes up 30 per cent of new daily infections, with cases doubling every three days.

As of Tuesday, there are 95 confirmed cases in the province.