People 80 and older can sign up for vaccine Monday

Hamiltonians 80 years of age or older will be able sign up for COVID vaccines starting Monday.

At a virtual news conference Friday, the city said people 80 and older will be able to register for vaccine appointments when the province's online booking portal goes live in Hamilton on Monday. To date, community members 85 and older were among those eligible to get the in-demand vaccines.

But the city pleads: be patient.

Be patient with the systems that are in place to help you book, be patient with the people who are trying to assist you to get those bookings and be patient overall in terms of when you will actually be able to book an appointment," said Paul Johnson, the city's Emergency Operations Centre director at a media update Friday.

The city does not currently have enough vaccine to inoculate everyone who is eligible, he cautioned, but as more supply comes in, more people will be able to get the jab.

More than 53,000 doses of vaccine have been handed out as of Friday and more than 16,000 people are now fully vaccinate, according to a city news release. As of Wednesday, 6,300 doses have been administered to people 85 and older.

At the briefing, Johnson acknowledged vaccine registration in the last two weeks was less than smooth" due to the city's reliance on a phone-based booking system.

The online portal will help things run more smoothly this time around, he hopes.

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, the city's medical officer of health, suggested people aquaint themselves with the following steps people should know before the provincial portal goes live Monday:

• Step 1: Have your Ontario photo health card at the ready.

• Step 2: Go to Hamilton.ca/VaccineBooking to ensure you are eligible to be vaccinated.

• Step 3: If you are eligible, click the link to book your vaccine appointment. You will be redirected to the provincial portal.

• Step 4: Fill out the online form that asks for your personal information.

• Step 5: Choose the location, time and date for your vaccination appointment.

Anyone who does not have access to the internet or a computer, or who does not have a valid Ontario photo health card, is asked to call public health's COVID-19 hotline at 905-974-9848, and choose option 7, to book an appointment.

The city anticipates that phone line will be busy and, as such, everyone is encouraged to try to register online.

Public health is still working through it's backlog of calls from people 85 and older who tried to book through the city phone line. The city's hospitals will stop calling people back on Sunday. Public health will not confirm, but it appears anyone who is already registered will have to re-register - either via the online portal or by calling the COVID hotline again - if they don't get a call back by 4 p.m. on Sunday.

The city also clarified the changing directive on when people will receive second doses.

With a few exceptions, anyone who received just their first dose of vaccine - regardless of when they received it - will now have to wait four months for their second. The provincial directive came into effect March 10, but it affects everyone, including those who received first doses prior to March 10.

This move follows recommendations from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization,

The 16-week interval for the second dose applies to the three two-dose vaccines currently approved by Health Canada - Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca," the province states. Extending the intervals for second dose will preserve supply to increase the number of individuals benefiting from a first dose."

Public health will be rebooking appointments for those affected in the upcoming weeks."

Among those who won't wait four months include residents of long-term-care homes, retirement homes, elder care lodges and assisted-living facilities who are at the greatest risk of both exposure to COVID-19 and serious illness and death," according to the province.

Anyone turning 80 or older in 2021 will be eligible to get a vaccine come Monday. That means that if you are currently 79 but will be turning 80 this year, you are eligible.

Public health also said Friday that one vaccine clinic is scaling back its hours. The St. Joseph's West 5th clinic was operating 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from March 5 up until Wednesday, March 10. As of Thursday, it is now running from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's not clear why the clinic's hours were scaled back - public health said it was due to an issue with vaccine supply.

... We have the capacity in Hamilton to provide more clinic options than we have supply to meet locally," said public health spokesperson James Berry.

More information about vaccine registration and booking will be available on the city's website under the COVID-19 vaccines section at Hamilton.ca/COVIDvaccines.

Katrina Clarke is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: katrinaclarke@thespec.com