As Ontario grapples with a seventh COVID-19 wave, the province is offering added protection to all adults in the form of a second vaccine booster shot.
Starting at 8 a.m. on Thursday, all Ontarians aged 18 and over will be eligible to receive a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose, as long as it’s been five months since their first booster.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore announced the expanded eligibility during a news conference at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.
“Expanding eligibility to second booster doses and providing continued access to testing will empower Ontarians to make the best decisions for their circumstances and help keep our communities safe,” said Moore. “Staying up to date on vaccination is the best protection against severe outcomes from COVID-19.”
While eligibility is being expanded, Moore stressed Ontarians who do not have underlying health issues may choose to wait until the fall to receive their fourth dose. That is when a new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, which may offer more targeted protection against the Omicron variants, is expected to be approved by Health Canada.
According to Moore, healthy adults continue to have strong protection from the virus more than six months after their first booster. He is encouraging Ontarians to speak with their doctor about when it would be most beneficial for them to get the fourth dose.
Currently, only those 60 and older, immunocompromised individuals, and Indigenous populations can receive a fourth vaccine dose. They have been eligible for the second booster since April 7.
Vaccine appointments can be booked through the province's COVID-19 vaccination portal or by calling the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900.
More than 33 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have made it into arms across the province, with more than 93 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older having had one dose. More than 91 per cent have received a second dose. However, uptake of the third shot continues to lag. As of Monday, only 57 per cent of eligible Ontarians have got their first booster.
In addition to expanding eligibility for the fourth dose, Moore also said Wednesday that the province will continue to provide free rapid antigen tests to the general public until December 31, 2022. The free tests can be found at grocery stores, pharmacies, select workplaces, schools, hospitals, long-term care and retirement homes, and other congregate settings. Ontario expanded access to the free rapid antigen tests in February, just over a month after it limited eligibility for publicly-funded PCR testing. As of last Friday, more than 238 million free rapid antigen tests have been distributed across the province.
COVID-19 transmission has been on an upswing over the past few weeks, driven by the highly infectious BA.5 Omicron subvariant, which is more immune-evasive. That means people who have recently had COVID can catch it again sooner. Using key indicators such as wastewater data, hospitalization numbers, and test positivity rates, Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table declared the seventh wave officially underway last week.