Ontario expands COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to adults 18+ starting Tuesday | FULL

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams said on Monday the province is expanding its COVID-19 vaccine eligibility a week ahead of schedule, opening the province's appointment booking portal to those 18 years of age or older starting Tuesday.

Plus, associate chief medical officer of health Dr. Barbara Yaffe reported the province faced a total of 14 total cases of blood clotting due to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, 10 of which are vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT).

Ontario recently put a pause on administering the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to the extremely rare blood clotting disorder, but will offer second doses to those who want one.

When asked about the time frame for administering second COVID-19 vaccine doses to Ontarians, Yaffe said the province will eventually see shorter intervals between mRNA vaccine doses, particularly for frontline health-care workers and for people in certain high-risk groups. But, the doctor said she doesn’t see the interval becoming “really short” but it might become shorter than 16 weeks.

Ontario is reporting 2,170 new COVID-19 cases on Monday. The provincial total now stands at 511,486.

So far, more than seven million doses of vaccine have been administered which is just over half of adults. The province said it is on track to inoculate 65 per cent of adults by the end of May.

MORE: https://globalnews.ca/news/7867953/ontario-covid-vaccine-eligibility-18-older-earlier-may-18/

Subscribe to Global News Channel HERE: http://bit.ly/20fcXDc
Like Global News on Facebook HERE: http://bit.ly/255GMJQ
Follow Global News on Twitter HERE: http://bit.ly/1Toz8mt
Follow Global News on Instagram HERE: https://bit.ly/2QZaZIB
#GlobalNews #COVID #Coronavirus #COVID19 #onpoli #ontario