Third COVID-19 vaccine dose eligibility expands to include more medical conditions

KITCHENER -- The province has updated its eligibility for who can receive a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Waterloo Region residents who now qualify for a third dose due to a specific medical condition will need their physician or specialist to fill out a referral form prior to receiving their shot.

Here are the groups now eligible:

• Individuals receiving active treatment (e.g., chemotherapy, targeted therapies, immunotherapy) for solid tumour or hematologic malignancies
• Recipients of solid-organ transplant and taking immunosuppressive therapy
• Recipients of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T-cell therapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplant (within two years of transplantation or taking immunosuppression therapy)
• Individuals with moderate to severe primary immunodeficiency (e.g., DiGeorge syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
• Individuals with stage 3 or advanced untreated HIV infection and those with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
• Individuals receiving active treatment with the following categories of immunosuppressive therapies: anti-B cell therapies (monoclonal antibodies targeting CD19, CD20 and CD22), high-dose systemic corticosteroids, alkylating agents, antimetabolites, or tumour-necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors and other biologic agents that are significantly immunosuppressive

They will need to wait at least eight weeks after their second dose.

Regional officials said they're already administering doses to people living in long-term care and high-risk retirement homes. Those residents are eligible for a third dose five months after their second and don't need a referral form.

Anyone coming for a third dose is asked to bring their referral form to their appointment.