Ontario's Vaccine Rollout Aims To Have First Doses For Everyone Eligible By Mid-June

The province's vaccination task force is now aiming to secure doses for all eligible Ontarians much sooner than before.

Today, officials announced updates to the timeline of Ontario's vaccine rollout, saying that their new aim is to have the first dose administered to every eligible Ontarian who wants one by June 20.

Editor's Choice: 10 Candyologists Have Been Officially Chosen Out Of 200,000 Applicants (EXCLUSIVE)

"Our aim would be to allow the province of Ontario to have the first needle in the arms of every eligible person who wants it by the first day of summer," said General Rick Hillier.

"So when I say please be patient a little while longer, we will get to you and we will get to you much more quickly than we ever imagined before."

Phase 2 is scheduled to start in mid-April and will run until the end of June. It will account for the vaccinations of 9 million Ontarians, officials say.

Ontarians aged 60 to 79 will receive first priority in Phase 2, with all people over the age of 60 inoculated by the end of May.

"In these last three to five days, we’ve had a seismic shift in our vaccination opportunities and in our program to roll it out," Hillier said.

This is due to the "increased flow" of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, as well as the new supply of AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, just approved by Health Canada.

In addition to all of this, the province is beginning to vaccinate Ontarians ages 60 to 64 at participating local pharmacies next week as part of a soft launch for pharmacy vaccination clinics. 

This timeline would make doses widely available to all residents much quicker than previously anticipated.