Adults aged 75 and older can now join the queue for vaccines against COVID-19 in Simcoe County and Muskoka District.
Today's announcement from the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit comes on the heels of news from the province yesterday that the region would be getting almost 30,000 COVID vaccines during the last two weeks of March.
Because of the case rates, hospitalizations, deaths, and prevalence of variant cases, the province has identified 13 heath units as hot spots, to be given higher allocations of the Ontario vaccine supply. Simcoe Muskoka is among those 13 regions.
Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is taking pre-registration via its website from individuals aged 75 to 79 (those 80 and above can already book online). Starting Monday, the 75 to 79 year old age group can book their appointments directly through the provincial booking system.
In addition to the new age group extending to those born in 1946 or earlier, vaccine appointment pre-registration is still open to select frontline health care workers, essential caregivers for residents of long-term care and retirement homes, Indigenous adults and their household members, and adult recipients of chronic home care.
According to a news release from the health unit, those who have pre-registered will join a queue to receive a vaccine appointment, and will receive an email invitation once an appointment is available. First and second dose appointments will be booked at the same time.
Individuals in Simcoe Muskoka who received their first dose of COVID-19 immunization prior to March 10 will have to rebook a second dose appointment later. All second dose appointments for that group have been cancelled with more information coming in early May for re-booking.
More than 62,000 doses of vaccine have already been administered in Simcoe Muskoka, including to those most vulnerable in long-term care and retirement homes. For more information about the COVID-19 immunization roll out, please see www.smdhu.org.
