Youth living in the Simcoe-Muskoka region will be able to book an accelerated appointment for a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine starting Saturday.
The provincial government announced the change Friday after some confusion this week that allowed some youth second-dose appointments to be accelerated in error.
Accelerated appointment booking will only be available for youth living in delta variant hotspots (Simcoe-Muskoka, Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Peel, Porcupine, Toronto, Waterloo, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph and York public health units) starting Saturday.
The rollout for accelerated second doses for youth in other regions has not been announced by the province yet.
Friday’s update also included a reminder that starting Monday at 8 a.m., anyone aged 18 years or older is eligible to book an accelerated second-dose appointment.
Until then, the accelerated second-dose appointments are reserved for certain eligible groups including those living in the Simcoe-Muskoka region who had their first dose on or before May 30.
Official advice from Ontario’s medical officers of health and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization states the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are interchangeable and Ontarians should get the first mRNA vaccine available to them for their second dose, regardless of the brand of their first dose.
Those who already have a second-dose appointment booked do not have to rebook it, but they can when they are eligible.
All booking can be done through ontario.ca/bookvaccine or by calling the provincial booking support line at 1-833-943-3900.
Find out more about booking a vaccine appointment and getting transportation assistance to a clinic on the health unit website here.