Ontario has announced more people will soon be able to get a COVID-19 booster shot and local public health is encouraging eligible residents to get the extra needle.
On Wednesday, Ontario announced it will provide booster doses to the following groups a minimum of six months following their second dose:
- Residents of long-term care homes, retirement homes, elder care lodges, and older adults living in other congregate settings
- Adults in the community 70 years of age and older
- Eligible health care workers
- People who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine or one dose of the Janssen vaccine
- First Nations, Inuit, and Métis adults (including non-Indigenous household members)
While booster shots are being targeted at those most at risk of developing serve outcomes if they get COVID-19, along with essential healthcare workers, Dr. Nicola Mercer, medical officer of health and CEO of Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, Public Health said people in those groups don’t need to panic and are likely still well protected from their initial doses.
“Does this mean if you’re in that age group, (you) have to rush out and get (your) booster dose tomorrow? No, it’s a booster dose, you are still protected,” she said at Wednesday’s board of health meeting.
“What we’re saying to you, is some time over the next one to two months if you could try and get your booster dose. It’s just a flag to say that we think that people in this age group should have a booster dose."
WDG Public Health began calling seniors to book booster shot appointments just over a week ago, Mercer said.
"We have been trying to get ahead of this, recognizing especially for those who are over the age of 90 that online booking is challenging," she explained.
So far, over 900 people in the 70 plus age group have been given booster doses, Rita Isley, director of community health for WDG Public Health said.
The health unit is hoping to get everyone 80 years and older in for a booster shot "well before the snow falls," she continued.
As for healthcare workers, WDG Public Health will be distributing vaccine to hospitals and all agencies with registered staff so that group can get their booster doses at work, Mercer said.
Even as booster doses roll out, Mercer said first and second doses remain the priority.
"If people show up at our clinics unexpectedly, walk in and they have not had a first dose we continue to welcome them with open arms and put them at the front of the queue," she said, explaining first and second doses are "so important to ensure that we protect our population."
More information about how to access booster doses can be found of WDG Public Health's website.
People eligible for booster doses can also book through a pharmacist, public health clinic, or in some cases their family doctor, Mercer said.
