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Ontario adding 700 more pharmacies to COVID-19 vaccine rollout
 

BY NEWS STAFF

Posted Apr 11, 2021 11:45 am EDT

Last Updated Apr 11, 2021 at 11:58 am EDT

Sign advertising COVID-19 vaccine available by appointment at pharmacy in Toronto. CITYNEWS/Dan Berry

The Ford government is adding an additional 700 pharmacies across the province to its the COVID-19 vaccine network.

The government says the locations will begin offering the AstraZeneca vaccine to individuals 55 years of age and older starting this week, however, not all pharmacies on the list will begin taking appointments at the same time.

Locations that are currently administering the doses can be found here.

The expansion of the pharmacy network across the GTHA will see more than 100 in Peel and York regions, over 50 in Halton and an additional 30 in Hamilton.

This will bring the total number of pharmacies offering the vaccine to over 1,400 locations with the goal to expand to approximately 1,500 by the end of April.

“With the increasing spread of variants of concern and case counts in the thousands each day, we encourage everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated and protect yourself and your family,” Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said in a statement released Sunday.

Pharmacies began administering COVID-19 vaccine shots in Toronto, Kingston and Windsor-Essex as part of a pilot program at the beginning of March.

Toronto mayor John Tory received his first COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday at pharmacy in downtown Toronto. Premier Doug Ford and provincial health minister Christine Elliott also received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine as people question the safety of the vaccine.

The drugmaker recently updated the efficacy data for its vaccine, saying the shot is 76 per cent effective against mild symptoms of the virus and 100 per cent effective at preventing severe disease.

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