Second doses accelerated in Waterloo Region, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph due to concerns over Delta variant: province
People who received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose before May 9 in Waterloo Region and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph will be able to get a second dose early, according to the Ministry of Health.
At a press conference on Thursday, officials with the province said the schedule change is due to concerns over spread of the Delta variant, the B.1.617 variant first identified in India.
Accelerated second doses appointments will also be available in Halton, Peel, Porcupine, Toronto and York.
As of Friday, there were 19 confirmed cases of the Delta variant in Waterloo Region, but health officials believe there are more based on current trends.
On Friday morning, regional officials said people can fill out an online form starting Monday to get an earlier second dose appointment.
The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph health unit says their booking system will be ready by Monday morning, with second dose appointments depending on which vaccine was received as a first dose and when it was given.
"You'll only be able to get a second dose if it's been three weeks since Pfizer, four weeks since Moderna, or twelve weeks since AstraZeneca," said associate medical officer of health Dr. Matthew Tenenbaum.
Vaccine expert and professor at the University of Waterloo Kelly Grinrod said getting the second jab is essential amid the growing threat of the Delta variant.
"The first dose of the vaccine doesn't work as well as it did for the older variants, so we really need a second dose of the vaccine to protect you against the Delta Variant," she said.
Most of the AstraZeneca vaccines administered in Waterloo Region on or before May 9 were at local pharmacies. Grinrod says pharmacists are now overwhelmed with questions about second doses.
"Patients can't get through, they can't get any work done, they are having a hard time balancing the phone calls and vaccinating people," she said.
Grinrod recommends checking for information online instead of calling a pharmacy with questions.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.