Ontario opens up vaccines to 18 year olds

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Ontario’s 18 year-olds will be able to book a vaccine starting Tuesday at 8 am.

That throws open the doors to millions of Ontarians anxiously waiting to be vaccinated. In Lambton, for example, only people over 50 can book a vaccine now.

Now the province is opening up eligibility to everyone over 18 early. It was originally slated to be May 31. The province plans to open up vaccinations for teens between 12 and 17 by May 31.

Officials say 2.2 million doses are scheduled to arrive this week in advance of the long weekend. That led to the government extending the eligibility. The province is also allowing public health unit to hold pop-up clinics for 12 to 17 year olds using the Pfizer vaccine if they wish.

As of May 16, 2021, at 8:00 p.m., over 7.2 million vaccine doses have been administered across the province, with over 93 per cent of Ontario residents aged 80 and over and more than 92 per cent of residents aged 75 to 79 having received at least one dose.

More than 55 per cent of the population aged 18 and over have received at least one dose and more than 432,000 Ontarians are fully immunized, including 96 per cent of long-term care residents.

In May, Ontario expects to receive approximately 4.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Approximately 4.7 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine are expected in June.

To book a vaccine in Lambton go to https://lambtonpublichealth.ca/2019-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccines/register/