Ottawa Public Health says more than three-quarters of residents in their 60s have now received an initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as the province moves to rapidly expand eligibility for all adult Ontarians.
OPH said in its latest update Friday that 322,149 Ottawa residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, representing 37 per cent of the total eligible population.
Residents aged 60 to 69 are now 75.3 per cent vaccinated, OPH’s dashboard shows.
Some 41 per cent of residents in their 50s have also received at least one dose of the vaccine, while just under a quarter of those in their 40s have gotten a jab.
Ontario lowered the age gate on the provincial booking system to 55 as of Friday morning, allowing anyone in Ottawa born in 1966 or earlier to book a vaccine appointment at a community clinic.
The province expects to expand vaccinations to new age brackets every week in May, opening up bookings to all adults by the end of the month. The ramp-up is tied to an expected increase in vaccine deliveries over the coming weeks.
Ottawa has administered a total of 359,584 doses of vaccine to date, averaging roughly 59,000 doses weekly in the last two weeks.
Meanwhile, OPH reported 206 cases of COVID-19 on Friday and one new death related to the virus.
The number of active COVID-19 cases dropped to 2,088 as of Friday and the city’s coronavirus positivity rate fell to 7.6 per cent in the past week compared to 9.9 per cent in the most recent period.
There are now 118 Ottawa residents in hospital with COVID-19, 29 of whom are in the intensive care unit. While fewer ICU beds are occupied as of Friday, OPH says half of all ventilators are currently in use across the city’s health-care system.
L’Hôpital Montfort is now reporting a third COVID-19 outbreak across its facilities, with nine cases now connected to ongoing outbreaks at the hospital.
There are currently 42 ongoing coronavirus outbreaks in Ottawa, 10 of which affect workplaces.