Ontario Could Reportedly Open Up Second Vaccine Doses To Everyone Eligible Soon
Ontarians could get their two-dose summer even earlier now.
Ontario could be looking at a two-dose summer sooner than expected.
Minister of Health Christine Elliott says that the province could replace its current plan to roll out second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine based on age, and instead make appointments available to all residents 12 years old and older ahead of schedule, reports CP24.
Expanding eligibility to all age groups would allow people to be fully vaccinated months earlier than the current proposed timeline, the outlet says.
Elliott said that the goal of this would be to "make sure that anybody who wants to receive their second vaccine can get one as quickly as possible."
"We're looking at all options because we need to stay ahead of this [Delta] variant so that we can then move into stage one and get life back more to normal for people as quickly as we can," said Elliott at Queen's Park on Thursday.
On May 28, Premier Doug Ford announced all Ontarians who received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose will be eligible for their second dose by the end of summer, starting with older age groups and then transitioning to a "first-in, first-out" approach, based on the date that residents got their first dose of a vaccine.
This comes as medical officers of health Dr. Eileen de Villa and Dr. Lawrence Loh say that the Delta variant, otherwise known as the B.1.617 variant, could soon become the dominant strain in Toronto and Peel Region.