Ontario Makes Fourth Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine Available for Seniors

Ontario Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore attends a press briefing at the Ontario Legislature in Toronto on Dec. 10, 2021. Chris Young/The Canadian Press

The fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is now available for long-term care residents and other senior citizens, the Ontario government said on Thursday.

Ontarians living in congregated settings like long-term care homes and retirement homes can get the fourth dose of the mRNA vaccine if three months have passed since they received their third dose.

Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, made the announcement at a press conference on Thursday, as the province takes precautionary measures to limit the spread of the new Omicron variant.

In addition, Ontario also mandated that any staff, students, volunteers, caregivers, or support workers working at long-term care residences must get a third booster dose by Jan. 28.

Moore said that while Omicron is more transmissible than previous variants, the good news is that the province has not seen a corresponding rapid increase in hospitalizations and intensive care admissions.

“Preliminary findings from Public Health Ontario suggests Omicron is the first dominant variant to demonstrate a decline in disease severity. The risk of hospitalization or death was 54 percent lower for Omicron cases as compared to Delta cases,” he said.

The province reported 16,000 new cases as of Friday, with 205 people in intensive care units and over 1,100 in other hospital units.

Along with changes to vaccine eligibility, the government also updated its testing and isolation guidelines.

Starting Dec. 31, publicly-funded PCR testing will be available to only vulnerable individuals, including those with significant medical issues, who are symptomatic, or who are at risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

Most individuals with a positive test result from a rapid antigen test will no longer be required or encouraged to get a confirmatory PCR or rapid molecular tests, and no testing will be available for asymptomatic individuals.