More York Region residents will be eligible for second doses under the acclerated COVID-19 vaccine rollout announced today by the province for 10 delta variant hotspots.
Anyone living in a delta hotspot who received their first dose on or before May 30 can rebook their second dose for an earlier appointment beginning June 23.
As of today, those regions include York, Simcoe-Muskoka, Durham, Hamilton, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, Waterloo, Toronto, Porcupine, Peel and Halton.
According to York Region's public dashboard for June 16, there are 27 confirmed delta variants in the region: one each in Newmarket, Aurora and East Gwillimbury, five in Markham, six in Richmond Hill and 13 in Vaughan. Lineage has yet to be determined for 17,682 cases identified as variants.
The accelerated rollout across the province includes:
- As of Monday, June 21 at 8 a.m., all Ontarians who received their first dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine on or before May 9, will be eligible to book or rebook their second dose appointment at a shortened interval.
- As of Wednesday, June 23 at 8 a.m., individuals who received their first dose of an mRNA vaccine on or before May 30 and who live in the catchment area of one of the 10 public health units identified as delta hotspots (Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Peel, Porcupine, Simcoe-Muskoka, Toronto, Waterloo, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, and York public health units) will be eligible to book or rebook their second dose appointment at a shortened interval.
- Starting the week of June 28 (days / sequence to be confirmed) all Ontarians aged 18 and over who have received their first dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine will be eligible to book their second dose appointment. The appointment will be scheduled at least 28 days after the first dose, per the recommended interval.
As a hotspot region, eligible individuals for accelerated doses already include anyone who lives, works or goes to school in York Region who received their first Pfizer or Moderna dose on or before May 9.
As of June 17, the Ontario Science Advisory Table reported a reproductive number of 1.23 for the COVID-19 delta variant, meaning that every one person infected with the variant spreads it to 1.23 other people. It is estimated to be the strain responsible for 45.9 per cent of the province's cases.
Ontario’s allocation of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine meant to arrive during the first two weeks of July will be lower than initially projected (decreased from approximately 885,000 to 348,000 doses) and is planned to catch up during the last two weeks of July.
TORONTO — With a majority of Ontario adults having received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and over three million doses of the Moderna vaccine arriving in June, the province is continuing to accelerate its vaccine rollout by expanding eligibility for second doses ahead of schedule.
“Thanks to the efforts of Team Ontario we are making tremendous progress in our vaccine rollout, protecting communities at greatest risk of COVID-19 and variants,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Every dose administered brings us closer to ending the pandemic and moving to Step Two of our Roadmap, and I encourage everyone to do their part and get their shot as soon as they are eligible.”
With a majority of Ontario adults having received their first dose of the vaccine, providing a strong level of protection from COVID-19, the province is accelerating eligibility to book a second dose appointment as follows:
- As of Monday, June 21, 2021 at 8:00 a.m., all Ontarians who received their first dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine on or before May 9, 2021 will be eligible to book or rebook their second dose appointment at a shortened interval.
- As of Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 8:00 a.m., individuals who received their first dose of an mRNA vaccine on or before May 30, 2021 and who live in the catchment area of one of the 10 public health units identified as Delta hot spots (Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Peel, Porcupine, Simcoe-Muskoka, Toronto, Waterloo, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, and York public health units) will be eligible to book or rebook their second dose appointment at a shortened interval.
- Starting the week of June 28, 2021 (days / sequence to be confirmed) all Ontarians aged 18 and over who have received their first dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine will be eligible to book their second dose appointment. The appointment will be scheduled at least 28 days after the first dose, per the recommended interval.
Expanding the number of Delta hot spots and rapidly expanding second dose coverage in these areas will help to minimize the risk of the variant’s spread throughout the province.
In addition, effective June 14, 2021, individuals who received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine are also eligible to receive a second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at an interval of eight to 12 weeks, with informed consent. This can include a second dose of AstraZeneca or an mRNA vaccine.
Ontario’s allocation of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine meant to arrive during the first two weeks of July will be lower than initially projected (decreased from approximately 885,000 to 348,000 doses) and is planned to catch up during the last two weeks of July. The government will adjust and mitigate any impacts of this decrease to the provincial vaccine rollout.
The province will continue to expand eligibility for accelerated second doses across Ontario as additional vaccine allocations and shipment timelines are confirmed by the federal government.
From May 7 to June 17, more than 50 provincially supported mobile and pop-up clinics have administered over 86,000 vaccines at workplaces and community hubs in Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Toronto, Peel and York region hotspots, working closely with public health units. Mobile clinics are returning to these sites to focus on second doses beginning the week of June 20.
