Ontario plans to start offering another shot of COVID -19 vaccine to people 60-plus
Ontario plans to soon start offering fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccines to residents aged 60 and older, the province’s health minister said Tuesday as she maintained that the province is equipped to handle rising cases and hospitalizations.
Christine Elliott said a plan would be announced on Wednesday for expanding eligibility for second booster shots.
“Our medical advisers have recommended ... that we go to 60 to provide an added level of protection to the residents of Ontario,” she said.
“We will have further details about the particulars available tomorrow, but 60 is going to be at the age at which people can receive (fourth shots).”
Fourth doses in Ontario are already available to long-term care and retirement home residents as well as those who are immunocompromised.
Ontario’s plan to open fourthdose access to people aged 60 and older follows new advice from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. On Tuesday, the committee said provinces and territories should start preparing plans to roll out fourth shots in the coming weeks, prioritizing those 80 and older and residents in longterm care.
The developments on Ontario’s vaccination plans come as the province has been seeing rising COVID-19 hospitalizations.
There were 1,091 people in hospital with the virus Tuesday, nearly 40 per cent higher than a week earlier. That hospitalization figure surpassed projections from the province’s group of expert pandemic advisers, who predicted last month that hospitalizations could be around half that number by the beginning of April.
Ontario ended mask mandates in most public spaces two weeks ago, with the exception of public transit and health-care settings such as hospitals and long-term care homes.
Premier Doug Ford on Monday called the rise in cases “a little spike” that the province anticipated, and Elliott repeated that messaging on Tuesday.
Elliott also repeated that the province isn’t currently planning to bring back its broad mask mandate, saying that Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer, hasn’t recommended it.
Moore outlined the province’s plans to lift public health measures a month ago. Since then, he hasn’t been available for media briefings or regular interviews. Elliott said Tuesday that Moore has chosen to do less frequent media appearances because he determined they aren’t necessary at this point.
There were 1,091 people in hospital with the virus Tuesday, nearly 40 per cent higher than a week earlier.