Ontario Expands Eligibility for Third COVID-19 Vaccine Dose

Ontario's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore attends a press briefing at Queen's Park in Toronto on Nov. 3, 2021. The province announced that it is planning to offer booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines to all Ontarians, starting with the next priority group who will be able to book appointments starting Nov. 6. The Canadian Press/Chris Young

Ontario is expanding eligibility for a third COVID-19 dose, with individuals from additional “high-risk” groups able to access the booster shot on Nov. 6.

High-risk groups will be able to receive the booster shot if six months have passed since their last vaccine dose. Those groups include:

• Individuals aged 70 and above
• Health care workers and essential caregivers who work in congregated settings such as long-term care homes and retirement homes
• Individuals who received a complete series of a viral vector vaccine (two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine or one dose of the Janssen vaccine); and
• First Nation, Inuit, and Métis adults, including their non-Indigenous family members

Ontario is the first province in Canada to administer the third vaccine dose to select vulnerable populations.