Ontario poised to see COVID-19 vaccination ramp-up

The latest data from the province shows a slow but steady ramp-up of COVID-19 vaccinations in Ontario as mass vaccination sites start to open and larger vaccine shipments start to arrive

According to the latest provincial numbers, more than 30,000 doses a day have been handed out in the province for 13 of the past 14 days. More recently Ontario has hit 50,000 doses per day on three of the past five days.

That rate will still need to increase dramatically in order to reach the goal recently set of offering every Ontarian a first vaccine dose by June 20. At the rate of 50,000 doses per day, it would take the better part of a year to offer everyone a first dose.

Still, the data shows a steady increase over the previous two-week period when the province didn’t hit 30,000 daily doses once.

Some areas to start vaccinating people in their 70s

Over the past few weeks, vaccinations began in hospitals for anyone 80 and over as part of Ontario’s Phase One rollout. This stage also includes frontline healthcare workers, and at-risk populations such as First Nations.

With many jurisdictions, including Ontario, having increased the interval between first and second doses to around four months, more people are getting a first shot sooner. 

Some health units have said that they are quickly working through vaccinations for their older seniors and will soon start expanding vaccinations to other healthcare workers such as massage therapists and chiropractors, as well as people in their 70s.

Those groups weren’t originally slated to start getting shots until Phase 2 in April.

York Region announced Wednesday evening that residents between the ages of 75 and 79 can start booking vaccination appointments on Thursday morning.

Vaccine shipments expected to start ramping up

The province has said its ability to ramp up the vaccinations is dependent on the supply from the federal government, which is responsible for procuring the vaccines.

According to the latest delivery schedule published by the federal government, Ontario is set to see a major boost in its supply starting next week when the province is expected to receive more than 466,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. That's more than two-and-a-half times the number of doses that Ontario received in each of the first three weeks of March.

Ontario is scheduled to continue receiving around 400,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine each week through the middle of May.

Next week Ontario is also expected to receive more than 323,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, nearly double the amount received in the previous shipment last week.

With the exception of Pfizer, the federal government has not published delivery schedules for any of the vaccines beyond March. However they have said that a cumulative total of around 36.5 million vaccine doses are expected to have arrived in the country by the end of June.

Ontario could also start to receive further doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has recently been recommended for use in seniors in Canada.

Around 194,000 doses of the vaccine have come to Ontario from the Serum Institute of India. They were distributed through some pharmacies to those under 65, based on the previous advice that the vaccine should not be given to older seniors. However pharmacies have said that they have run out or will soon be out of their supply.

The federal government has a purchase agreement for 20 million doses of the vaccine produced in the United States. However the U.S. has said that it will not allow any of its vaccines supplies to be exported to other countries until every American has been offered a shot, making it difficult to gauge exactly when those doses will arrive.

While the rising vaccine shipments are cause for optimism, health officials have urged caution and a go-slow approach to easing restrictions as more contagious variants threaten to bring about a potentially more explosive third wave of infections.

Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table said Tuesday that a third wave has already begun. The vast majority of residents in the province remain unvaccinated.