COVID-19 vaccine appointments, shots snapped up as Ontarians 18-plus become eligible for boosters

Ontarians 18 years of age and older are able to book their COVID-19 booster dose starting Monday, but many were left encountering issues frantically trying to get appointments.

The booking portal was supposed to open at 8 a.m., but reports from Vaccine Hunters Canada and those on social media on Sunday night indicated the booking portal on Ontario’s website was already open, allowing residents who became eligible Monday to book.

[ON] You awake, Ontario? Looks like the Ontario Health portal has opened early – some users are reporting they’ve been able to book their 18+ vaccines already.https://t.co/aEXf6m2sJ3#VHCDose3 #COVID19ON #vhcON pic.twitter.com/78iAgp3Hff

— Vaccine Hunters Canada (@VaxHuntersCan) December 20, 2021

Many social media users who logged in to reserve a spot Monday morning reported facing a virtual lineup of more than an hour.

Others said the earliest appointments they could find were more than a month away, while others reported no available appointments in their region.

Roughly 15 minutes after the expanded eligibility officially took effect Monday, health officials in Ottawa said all available spots had been reserved.

Ministry of Health spokesperson Alexandra Hilkene said approximately 186,000 booster appointments have been booked through the provincial booking system as of 3 p.m. on Monday. Hilkene says over 120,000 vaccine doses have also already been administered.

“This does not include the thousands of appointments booked through other channels that are using their own booking systems such as certain public health units, pharmacies, primary care and hospitals,” she said in a statement, adding that the province was working to help deal with the backlog.

“As we continue to increase our daily capacity, individual public health units are actively working to add appointments to the booking system on an ongoing basis. Public health units will continue to keep the public informed as more appointments go live on the provincial booking system. We also encourage Ontarians to check regularly for availability through other channels such as pharmacies, primary care settings, and walk-in clinics.”

If you’re at least 18 years old and managed to grab a spot for a booster shot, you’ll likely get a dose of the Moderna vaccine. The Health Ministry tells CityNews it has enough supply of Pfizer’s pediatric shot but it’s asking the federal government for four million of the adult doses.

“The Ministry of Health is working with its health system partners to ensure sufficient supply of the Pfizer vaccine for individuals aged 12-29 until new supply is confirmed,” Hilkene said. “Given historical uptake of Pfizer vaccine, we have requested an additional four million Pfizer doses from the federal government in January, which have yet to be confirmed.”

“The federal government has provided sufficient supply of Moderna, which will be supplied to all distribution channels,” Hilkene added.

The government maintains that both the mRNA Moderna and Pfizer vaccines provide strong protection against COVID-19 and its variants, saying mixing vaccines is safe and effective.

In Toronto, Christine Odunlami was able to secure a booster for late January after learning via Twitter that the provincial portal was accessible hours earlier than its official opening time. But despite logging in at 2:45 a.m., the earliest available appointment was still weeks away, said Odunlami, who has asthma.

“I feel fortunate that at least I was able to get something, but being someone that has a respiratory disease, that seems like a long time for me to wait,” she said.

Odunlami said she decided to cancel holiday plans with the family she hasn’t seen in nearly two years because she’s worried about Ontario’s surge in cases — 3,784 were reported Monday — and the fact that she doesn’t yet have a booster.

“This should’ve been something rolled out much sooner,” she said of the booster effort.

Long line-ups were also reported at some pop-up vaccination sites Monday.

Alexander McClelland said he tried to book a booster online, but the long wait was “frustrating,” so he decided to try his luck at a pop-up vaccination clinic in Newcastle, Ont., with his partner.

McClelland said the two showed up an hour before the clinic was meant to open at 10 a.m. and there was already a “massive line.” About 45 minutes after the clinic began administering shots, McClelland said police showed up to tell those still in line to go home as the site had run out of vaccines.

“Imagine if they actually had boosters for all of those people there, we’d be in a much better position,” he said. “It just seems very poorly rolled out and poorly organized.”

Ottawa resident Clement Law said he logged onto the provincial site shortly before 8 a.m. when it was supposed to officially open and was placed in a virtual lineup that lasted more than an hour. When he eventually gained access to the system, Law said there were no appointments available in his area.

“I put in my address to find the closest one and nothing shows up under 25 kilometres, nothing under 50, nothing under 100,” he said.

“Then, funny enough, I looked at 200 kilometres (away), which is kind of ridiculous, but it was like Belleville is open in January.”

Niagara Region Public Health said Sunday night that all booster appointments for Monday and Tuesday had already been snapped up. The health unit said it would provide an update once more spots were added.

Similarly, the Southwestern Public Health Unit said that as of 11:15 a.m., there were no vaccinations appointments available until Jan. 17, with efforts underway to increase capacity.

Meanwhile, York Region in the Toronto area said it was prioritizing first and second doses for children aged five to 11 and high-risk residents, with no walk-ins for third doses. It also said booster doses would be more available for people aged 18 to 49 once public health was “able to meet the age 50+ population demand as they are most vulnerable.”

Appointments are open to those who received their second dose three months ago (86 days) as the province ramps up its booster shot rollout.

“We will be working closely with the federal government to understand incoming vaccine supply for January to March, but we have received assurances that there will be enough vaccines for all Ontarians as we continue to rapidly expand capacity and eligibility for booster doses,” Hilkene said.

Those 18 and older have been eligible to get their shot by walking into pharmacies since Friday.

Adults 50 years of age and older have been eligible since Dec. 12. Eligibility for boosters for all adults was initially set for Jan. 4 but was moved up by the province last week in response to the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Vaccine appointments can be made online through the province’s booking portal, over the phone through the provincial vaccine contact centre, or directly through participating pharmacies and hospital clinics.

More details about where you can get vaccinated can be found on CityNews’ Spotshotter.

COVID-19 vaccine doses have ramped up in the last week as cases surge in the province due to the Omicron variant and many scrambles to get their booster shot.

The province administered 140,827 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday including just over 19,000 first doses and 117,663 booster shots. Just over 16,000 first doses were administered to kids between the ages of 5 and 11.

With files from The Canadian Press