For those aged 80 and up, Ontario’s much-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine booking system goes live at 8 a.m. today. Residents who meet the criteria can schedule an appointment through an online portal or by calling a toll-free number.
Premier Doug Ford, on the other hand, is advising those who haven’t yet qualified for a shot to stay off the website so it doesn’t crash.
Some of Ontario’s 34 public health units have already set up their own systems for booking vaccination appointments, but in many cases, the provincial portal will supplement or replace those systems.
The portal not only allows vaccine seekers to schedule appointments, but it also provides instructions on how to do so according to the protocols in place at each health unit.
People who are eligible for vaccination can schedule an appointment online at www.ontario.ca/bookvaccine, or by phone at 1-888-999-6488, according to the province. Even as the vaccination campaign intensifies, some parts of the province continue to see a high number of COVID-19 cases. The province’s color-coded pandemic response framework has Sarnia-Lambton in the grey-lockdown stage.
The lockdown is a “declaration of emergency,” according to Lambton Public Health, following a sharp increase in weekly case numbers among residents under 50.
The province also announced that the Northwestern Health Unit will be moved to the pandemic response plan’s second-strictest “red” category. Meanwhile, the Leeds, Grenville, and Lanark District Health Unit will upgrade from the least stringent “green” classification to “yellow.”
News and Picture Source: CTV NEWS
