TORONTO — Ontario residents aged 55 and older can now book Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine appointments at pharmacies across the province, the government announced Thursday.
Premier Doug Ford said an expected shipment of 583,400 vaccine doses arrived in the province on Thursday.
"Our vaccination rollout plan is well underway," he said.
Pharmacies in every public health unit will offer the shots, for a total of 695 sites, and the government said doses could start being administered as early as Saturday.
It said more primary care offices and community locations across all 34 public health units will also start administering the vaccine as the rollout continues.
Oxford-AstraZeneca shots were initially offered at more than 300 pharmacy locations in Toronto, Windsor-Essex and Kingston, going to people aged 60 and older.
Some physicians' offices in six health units were also distributing the shots to patients in that age cohort.
The top doctor in the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington health unit said on Thursday that 70 per cent of adults aged 60 to 64 have been vaccinated.
"Our vaccination strategy is proceeding very well in our area and we are on target to get vaccine into arms of everyone who wants it by the end of the summer," Dr. Kieran Moore said in a statement.
The government plans to expand the pharmacy rollout to more locations as supply increases and to eventually distribute Moderna vaccines at pharmacies.
Ontarians 75 and older are eligible to register for vaccines through the provincial booking system.
The age criteria has been lowered in some health units, and the province announced Thursday that would be extended to more regions.
Starting Friday, residents of Toronto and Peel Region who are 60 and older will be able to book appointments through the provincial website, as will those 70 and older in more regions, including Thunder Bay, North Bay and Eastern Ontario.
Residents 70 and older in 10 other regions, including Hamilton and Ottawa, were already able to book their shots through the province's portal.
Others including Halton Region and York Region are offering vaccines at larger clinics to people aged 65 and older.
Other people eligible for the vaccine include Indigenous adults, frontline health-care workers, essential caregivers and home-care recipients.
The City of Toronto announced Thursday that anyone 60 and older can book an appointment at its mass vaccination clinic starting Friday morning.
Toronto officials have been pleading with older residents to book appointments at those sites for weeks, citing dwindling uptake among the oldest seniors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2021.
The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version mistakenly said appointments for those 60 and older would be available at Toronto's clinic starting Saturday.
