Residents born in 2003 or earlier now eligible to book vaccine

May 20, 2021 · 0 Comments

Residents born in 2003 or earlier are now eligible to book their first doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

The Province announced changes to Ontario’s vaccine rollout plan on Monday, bringing forward the date for 18+ eligibility by nearly a week.

As of 8 a.m. on Tuesday, May 18, all adults across the Province gained eligibility, lifting previous restrictions around this demographic to hotspot areas.

The Ontario government announced late last month that all residents 18+ would be eligible to book their shots by May 24, but an early delivery of 2.2 million vaccine doses expected this week allowed these goal posts to be moved closer.

“Ontario is experiencing very positive trends in vaccine demand,” said the Province on Monday. “The Province and public health units will continue to make appointments available as vaccine supply is confirmed. In addition, the Province continues to work with public health units, First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities and Boards of Education to ensure youth in Ontario between 12 and 17 years of age will be eligible to book an appointment through the Provincial Booking System beginning the week of May 31, 2021 to receive their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. We are also working to encourage eligible family members who have not received a vaccine to attend these clinics to get youth and their families vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

As of May 12, the Province had administered a first dose of vaccine to more than 50 per cent of Ontarians aged 18 and over. In York Region, approximately 61 per cent of the adult population have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

As of May 14, 44,920 doses have been distributed to people in York Region aged 80 and over, representing 92.3 per cent of York Region residents in the age bracket. For people between the ages of 75 and 78, 30,981 doses have reached 90.7 per cent of residents in this demographic. In the 70 – 74 group, 84.6 per cent of residents have been reached, 81.9 per cent of people aged 65-69, 75.6 per cent of those aged 60-64, 67.3 per cent of the 55-59 population, 64.5 per cent of people 50-54, 60.7 per cent of residents 45-49, 59.2 per cent of those aged 40-44, 46.6 per cent of residents 35-39, 30.9 per cent of those aged 30-34, 30.1 per cent of people between the ages of 25 and 29, 30.8 per cent of residents 20-24, and 26.6 per cent of residents between the ages of 18 and 19.

Beginning the week of May 31, and following recent approvals from federal regulators, youth between the ages of 12 and 17 – and their family members who have not yet received a vaccine – will be eligible to book an appointment to receive their first doses of Pfizer.

Special clinics for youth and their families will be held during the weeks of June 14 and June 21.

“Expanding vaccines to youth 12 and up will bring us one step closer to normalcy for our students,” said Minister of Education Stephen Lecce. “We are focused on delivering a safe, stable and well-resourced learning experience with an additional $1.6 billion in resources to protect students and school communities in the 2021-22 school year.”

The aim, the Province noted, is to have both doses to youth by the end of August “in collaboration with school boards and other partners.”

LOCAL STATISTICS

A 92-year-old Aurora man is the community’s 46^th fatality attributed to COVID-19.

He died Wednesday, April 28, at Southlake Regional Health Centre after experiencing his first symptoms on March 11, and a positive test result on April 6.

As of Tuesday, May 18, Aurora has seen a total of 1,754 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 1,675 cases are now marked as recovered.

Of the 33 active cases, 30 are attributed to local transmission, close contact or unknown exposure, 1 to institutional outbreak, and 2 to workplace outbreak.

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter