Third round of vaccinations expanded

The Ontario government on Wednesday, Nov. 3. announced increased eligibility for a third round of COVID-19 booster shots starting Saturday, Nov. 6.

In a statement, the province said the third shot was to provide recipients with “an extra layer of protection against the Delta variant,” and that in coming months, they would be made available to everyone 12 and older.

Those eligible include:

Individuals aged 70 and over (born in 1951 or earlier);

Health care workers and designated essential caregivers in congregate settings (including long-term care home and retirement home staff and designated caregivers);

Individuals who received a complete series of a viral vector vaccine (two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine or one dose of the Janssen vaccine);

And First Nations, Inuit and Métis adults and their non-Indigenous household members.

Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, said, “Keeping a low rate of infection in our communities and protecting our most vulnerable is how we can keep our schools, businesses and social settings as safe as possible while avoiding further lockdowns.”

At least six months must have passed between a second vaccine dose and the third, the statement noted.

The announcement added that vaccine eligibility for children 5 through 11 was still subject to Health Canada approval, but the province was working with health units to prepare to deliver immunizations to them.