Ontario expands COVID-19 booster shots to 2.75 million residents
Ontario is offering COVID-19 booster shots to another 2.75 million citizens at higher risk of infection, including those over 70 years of age, anyone who got two doses of AstraZeneca or one of Janssen and front-line health-care workers.
Bookings begin Saturday morning through the provincial appointment system, public health units, select pharmacies and through hospitals for their eligible employees, officials told a background briefing Wednesday in advance of an afternoon news conference by chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore.
The boosters will be with the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines and cannot be administered until six to eight months after finishing a primary course of vaccination.
Also eligible are designated essential caregivers for loved ones in nursing homes or other congregate settings, and First Nation, Inuit and Metis adults and any non-Indigenous members of their households.
The expansion follows recommendations to the provinces from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization last week to deal with waning immunity from initial shots.
Offering the extra layer of protection provided by a booster dose will contribute to the fight against COVID-19," said briefing materials from the ministry of health.
In the case of AstraZeneca and the related Covishield vaccine, the first recipients who got their two shots last winter and spring will be eligible later this month.
Booster shots are encouraged but not mandatory and no shortages of vaccines are expected, officials said.
The boosters should help prevent breakthrough infections in the fully vaccinated, with the primary shots still providing high protection against severe illness from COVID-19.
There are no dates for boosters for the rest of the general population. Those shots are not expected until the New Year pending further advice to the provinces from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.
Boosters have been given to 65 per cent of the 250,000 eligible Ontario residents, such as transplant recipients, patients with blood cancers under active treatment, and residents of nursing and retirement homes and seniors' apartment buildings.
Officials said it's reasonable to expect fourth doses could be given next fall, perhaps in vaccines also containing flu shots.
Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @robferguson1