Eligibility for second-dose re-bookings for the COVID-19 vaccine is being extended once again, officials with the Middlesex-London Health Unit announced Tuesday.
Starting Wednesday morning, residents age 12 and older who received their first vaccine dose on or before May 9 will be able to re-book their second-dose appointment.
The announcement comes as local health officials anticipate the arrival of some 17,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week on top of the normal weekly Pfizer allotment of 25,000 doses.
A similarly large Moderna shipment is also expected the week after, according to the health unit.
“The additional vaccine that will arrive over the next two weeks will allow the Health Unit to expand and improve the efficiency of its vaccine rollout program, making it possible for people to complete their COVID-19 vaccination series more quickly,” read a release from MLHU.
News of the Moderna vaccine influx first came on Monday, and is the result of a federal procurement of a large shipment of doses from the Massachusetts-based company, health officials say.
The health unit says certain high-risk health-care workers are also still eligible to re-book a second dose regardless of their first dose date.
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National health officials have authorized the use of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines as second doses when either mRNA vaccine, or the AstraZeneca shot, was given as the first, the health unit says. The province says second doses for AstraZeneca recipients are being given out at an eight- to 12-week interval.
In addition to accelerated second doses, the health unit says the increased vaccine doses will allow the region’s mass vaccination clinics to dole out a combined 6,000 vaccines per day starting Monday. Right now, the region is doling out about 4,000 doses per day, well below the max capacity of roughly 10,000.
So far, the region has administered more than 355,000 vaccine doses. Roughly 72 per cent of residents 18 and older have received at least one dose, with 8.9 per cent fully immunized, according to data from June 12.
Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, said Monday that the health unit would reorient itself over the next two to three weeks to focus on the vaccine campaign amid the rise in doses, temporarily redeploying staff and winding down most of its services, excluding those absolutely critical.
The vaccine news comes amid ongoing concerns about the more contagious Delta variant, which modelling released last week by Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table suggested could become the dominant strain in Ontario this summer.
According to a presentation by the advisory body, getting the second vaccine dose is more than twice as effective against the variant. Officials said the Delta variant, first detected in India, is about 50 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha variant, or B.1.1.7, first detected in the United Kingdom.
Details on how to re-book a second dose, and how to book a first, can be found on the health unit’s website or by calling 226-289-3560.
A number of local pharmacies are also offering doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, but bookings must be made through the pharmacies themselves. Some pharmacies are offering second doses of AstraZeneca.
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