Ontario may expand third COVID-19 vaccine dose eligibility this week, health minister says
Health Minister Christine Elliott says that the Ontario government is considering expanding third dose eligibility to more age groups amid concerns about the new Omicron variant and will have “more to say later this week.”
Ontario’s current guidelines limit third dose eligibility to a handful of groups making up about 20 per cent of the province’s population, including those over 70, people who received two doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine, immunocompromised individuals, Indigenous Ontarians and residents in long-term care and retirement homes.
But there are now increasing calls to accelerate the rollout of third doses before the Omricon variant has a chance to spread widely in Ontario.
The province is currently sitting on a supply of 3.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
“We are urging more Ontarians to please come forward and be vaccinated and we're also looking at other age groups for the booster,” Elliott told reporters at Queen’s Park on Monday morning. “We'll have more to say about that later in the week because we want to have that extra layer of protection.”
The detection of the new variant in South Africa last week has caused significant alarm as there are some reports suggesting that the currently existing vaccines may be less effective against it due to a number of mutations in its genetic code.
So far there are only two known cases of the variant in Ontario – both involving individuals who returned to Ottawa from Nigeria – but public health officials have said that they anticipate that more cases will be detected in the coming days.
“We shouldn’t be naïve. This is bound to take over the world and it will be dominant in a few weeks to a few months,” Dr. Peter Juni, who is the scientific director of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, told CP24 on Monday. “It happened very fast in South Africa and it could happen relatively fast in the rest of the world as well.”
The Ford government has previously that it planned to roll out third doses for the general public, based on age and risk factors, starting sometime early in 2022.
Speaking with CP24, Juni conceded that there is still lots to learn about the new variant.
However, he said that it is unlikely that it will be proven to render vaccines completely ineffective.
“It makes sense to assume that any immunity that you have will at least partially protect you. That means that what is important now is to just continue the path that we have went on very successfully and to just continue to vaccinate,” he said. “Get your third doses if you can, get your first or second in any case, all of this thing w would be completely evading the immune system so we are not protected any more against hospital admissions, ICU admissions and death.”
Ontario’s plan for the rollout of third doses states that people will generally only be eligible for a booster shot no earlier than six months after receipt of their second shot.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'