Key takeaways:
- Residents aged 60 and older will be eligible for a fourth COVID-19 vaccination dose starting Thursday.
- In Ontario, residents of long-term care and retirement homes and immunocompromised patients have already received the fourth dose.
Beginning Thursday, residents aged 60 and up will be eligible for a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dosage.
According to the province, first Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples and their non-Indigenous household members will be eligible for a second booster shot at that time.
According to the company, the fourth dose is given at a recommended frequency of five months after the initial booster shot.
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Starting at 8 a.m. Thursday, eligible patients can schedule appointments through the provincial vaccine portal, some public health units, Indigenous-led vaccination clinics, and some pharmacies.
In a statement, Health Minister Christine Elliott stated, “As we continue to live with COVID-19, we are using every tool available to control this virus and decrease its impact on our hospitals as well as the health system, including expanding the use of booster doses.”
Long-term care, retirement home residents, and immunocompromised patients in Ontario have already received the fourth dose.
After the National Advisory Committee on Immunization encouraged provinces and territories to prepare to roll out fourth injections in the coming weeks, plans to increase second booster shots were expected.
The committee suggests that provinces prioritize persons aged 80 and up, as well as long-term care residents, and that fourth doses be strongly recommended for people aged 70 to 79.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunizations (NACI) is researching whether second booster doses are required for younger adults and adolescents.
Meanwhile, according to Ontario’s science advisers’ most recent COVID-19 wastewater data, infections in the province are nearly as high as they were in early January when Omicron was at its peak.
When compared to a week ago, the number of persons in Ontario hospitals with COVID-19 increased by over 40% on Tuesday.
Source: CTV News
