Teachers, firefighters and anyone over age 50 are among the new groups who can book a COVID-19 vaccine starting on Thursday.
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THE LATEST COVID-19 NEWS IN ONTARIO
Teachers, firefighters and anyone over age 50 are among the new groups who can book a COVID-19 vaccine starting on Thursday.
Eligibility for vaccines has been expanded to three new groups: anyone over age 50; Group 1 in the category of essential workers who can’t do their job at home; and people with high-risk medical conditions and their caregivers.
Group 1 includes teachers and other educators; police and fire officials; children’s aid society workers; enforcement and inspection staff such as bylaw officers, building and food inspectors and border inspection officers; and food, manufacturing and distribution workers and agricultural workers, among others.
“High-risk” conditions in Group 1 include obesity, people undergoing treatment that causes immunosuppression such as chemotherapy, people with developmental disabilities, people who are pregnant, among others.
People who are eligible can schedule an appointment at a community clinic through the province’s online booking system, or by calling the provincial vaccine booking line at 1-833-943-3900.
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Vaccines also continue to be available at mobile and pop-up clinics in hot spots and at pharmacies across the city with various eligibility requirements: click here for more information.
Before 8 a.m. on Thursday, the city announced its pop-up clinic in Overbrook was already fully booked for the day.
NEW CORONAVIRUS CASES IN OTTAWA AND ONTARIO:
The province reported 3,424 new cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID on Thursday. The largest number of new cases was in Toronto (958 cases), followed by Peel (900); York (291); Durham (175); and Hamilton (155).
The province reported 26 more people died of the virus, bringing the total number of deaths to 8,213.
Ottawa Public Health reported 106 new cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of people with lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the city since the pandemic began to 24,998.
Two more people died.
There were 95 people reported to be hospitalized with the virus, including 26 patients in ICU.
Two new outbreaks were reported in health-care institutions, including three patients who tested positive at the Queensway Carleton Hospital. There was one new outbreak in a community setting.
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit reported 23 new cases, while Leeds, Grenville and Lanark reported 10 new cases and Renfrew County reported seven new cases.
The province reported Thursday that 1,964 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, including 877 people in intensive care and 600 people on a ventilator.
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Meanwhile, groups representing thousands of health-care workers in the province say their members need to be prioritized for full immunization from COVID-19 as they work with patients hospitalized with the virus.
The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, Canadian Union of Public Employees, and Service Employees International Union say they have asked the province to accelerate second doses for the workers but have received no commitment.
Health-care workers were amongst the initial groups to be prioritized for a first dose of the shot.
Since Ontario’s vaccine effort began, however, the province has extended dosing intervals for COVID-19 shots from 21 days to four months to try to vaccinate as many people as possible in Ontario with first doses.
The group representing the health-care workers says the government needs to ensure the employees get second doses soon because they remain at risk when working with patients who have more transmissible COVID-19 variants.
A spokesperson for the health minister says as the province receives more vaccines, it may eventually be able to shorten the dosing interval for all Ontarians.
Ontario says it expects 65 per cent of adults to have their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of May.
— With files from The Canadian Press
COVID-19: Vaccine bookings open to essential workers, those over age 50; Ontario reports 3,424 new cases - Ottawa Citizen
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