Quebec and Ontario are expanding their COVID-19 vaccination programs to members of the general population, as hundreds of thousands of doses of vaccine are set to arrive in the country this week.
Quebec ramped up its vaccination program in earnest today as mass vaccine clinics opened in the Montreal area.
The government announced last week it would begin booking appointments for those aged 85 and up across the province, but that age limit has since dropped to 70 in some regions, including Montreal.
Several Ontario health units were also set to begin administering COVID-19 vaccines to their oldest residents after a provincial website for appointment bookings opened in six regions.
Some health units reported thousands of bookings and high call volumes as regions such as York, Windsor-Essex and Hamilton began taking appointments for seniors aged 80 or 85 and up, depending on the region.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is expecting delivery of about 445,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine this week, and none from Moderna.
It’s unclear when the first doses of the recently approved AstraZeneca vaccine will arrive in the country, but a senior government official told The Canadian Press on background Sunday the first doses could land as early as midweek.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2021.
The Canadian Press
