Pharmacies in Ottawa will be able to administer doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the next five to 14 days, says the head of the Ontario Pharmacists Association.
globalnews.ca
Ottawa pharmacies will join the province’s
COVID-19 vaccine distribution pilot when Ontario receives additional supply of Oxford-AstraZeneca doses, according to Nepean MPP Lisa MacLeod.
MacLeod tweeted Sunday evening that Ottawa will be classified as a “hot zone” in Phase 2 of Ontario’s vaccine rollout.
Regions such as Peel and York have been dubbed hotspots for COVID-19 and are
already included in the expansion of Ontario’s plans to deliver AstraZeneca doses to those aged 60 and older via a network of pharmacies in the province.
But Ottawa, which has seen rising levels of COVID-19 in recent weeks, had been left out of stated plans to scale up the number of pharmacies involved in the pilot. Nearby Kingston, as well as Toronto and Windsor-Essex, acted as testbeds for the pilot.
Mayor Jim Watson last week called on Ontario’s Minister of Health to
include the nation’s capital in the expansion of the program, arguing that some Ottawa communities were experiencing coronavirus infection rates as high as some areas of the GTA.
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Minister Elliott receives AstraZeneca vaccine shot, encourages people to get theirs
Watson also
expressed his frustration late last week that the city was seemingly being shortchanged on the number of vaccine doses it has received to date on a per capita basis.
The head of Ontario’s vaccine task force, retired general Rick Hillier, said Friday that Ottawa started receiving a larger proportion of vaccines while it was proving out the province’s supply chain, but that numbers fell off after January. Premier Doug Ford pledged the city would receive an equitable share going forward.
MacLeod said in her tweet Sunday that after Ottawa receives an upcoming shipment of 4,000 Moderna vaccines this week as well as the AstraZeneca doses, the city will have a “larger than per capita supply.”
READ MORE: What should be done with leftover vaccines at Ontario clinics? Experts push for a plan
Canada is
expected to receive a shipment of roughly 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses this week, according to federal officials.
Global News has reached out to MacLeod’s office for additional details on how many pharmacies in Ottawa could be expected to join the pilot program.
Meanwhile, Ottawa joined nine other regions of the province Monday in
opening up vaccination appointments to anyone aged 70 and older. Previously, bookings via the provincial system were limited to those aged 75 and older in the general population.
0:53Ontario to expand pharmacy pilot project to people aged 60 and older
Ontario to expand pharmacy pilot project to people aged 60 and older – Mar 19, 2021