Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, vice-president of logistics and operations at the Public Health Agency of Canada, participates in a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa, on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
April 29, 2021 - 1:03 AM
As COVID-19 vaccine supplies ramp up across the country, most provinces and territories have released details of who can expect to receive a shot in the coming weeks.
The military commander handling logistics for Canada's vaccine distribution program says there will be enough vaccine delivered to give a first dose before Canada Day to every adult who wants one.
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin says that's if provinces follow the advice to delay second doses up to four months.
He also cautions that it is dependent on having no production delays again.
Health Canada anticipates a total of 36.5 million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the Serum Institute of India by June 30.
Provinces initially suspended giving AstraZeneca shots to people under the age of 55 based on an advisory committee's advice, but their recommendation changed on April 23 to reflect that the shot is safe for anyone aged 30 and older.
Provinces have yet to move the threshold quite that low, however.
There are approximately 31 million Canadians over 16, and no vaccines are approved for anyone younger than 16.
Here's a list of the inoculation plans throughout Canada:
Newfoundland and Labrador
Residents who are between the ages of 55 to 64 have access to the AstraZeneca vaccine.
People 65 and older, Indigenous adults, people considered “clinically extremely vulnerable” and rotational workers, truck drivers and flight crew have access to the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
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Nova Scotia
Residents as young as 55 can book an appointment for a Pfizer of Moderna vaccine.
The province continues to offer the AstraZeneca vaccine to people aged 55-64.
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Prince Edward Island
Beginning April 26, people in the province between the ages of 40 and 59 can start booking appointments for a COVID-19 vaccine.
People 16 years and older who have certain underlying medical conditions, pregnant woman and eligible members of their household can also get a vaccine.
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New Brunswick
People as young as 60 can begin booking vaccination appointments.
Individuals 40 years old and older with three or more select chronic health conditions are also eligible.
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Quebec
The province has expanded its vaccination rollout to people with chronic illnesses who don't require regular hospital care, as well as to those with intellectual or physical disabilities.
Quebec expanded AstraZeneca availability to people as young as 45.
Pregnant women can begin booking vaccine appointments April 28.
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Ontario
Ontario has said everyone aged 60 and older is eligible to receive a vaccine, though some local public health units have lowered the threshold on their own.
The province has also expanded eligibility for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, saying those 40 and older can start receiving the shot. Shots are available through pharmacies and primary care providers.
People aged 45 and older living in more than 100 neighbourhoods deemed at high risk for COVID-19 can book vaccines at mass immunization clinics starting Tuesday.
The government says child-care workers employed in a licensed child-care setting will be able to book on Thursday, and those in unlicensed settings can set up appointments in the coming weeks.
Ontario, meantime, has doubled the number of pharmacies involved in the provincial vaccine effort.
Some 1,400 pharmacies in COVID-19 hot spots are now offering the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The province says it hopes to add another 100 pharmacies to the vaccine effort by the end of the month.
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Manitoba
Manitoba is using the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for First Nations people aged 30 and up and others aged 50 and up. These are available through a few channels including so-called supersites in larger communities. Health officials plan to continue reducing the age minimum, bit by bit, over the coming months.
The province is also allowing anyone 40 and over to get an Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine through pharmacies and medical clinics, subject to availability.
All front-line police officers, firefighters and health-care workers, regardless of age, qualify as well.
The province is also vaccinating all adults in high-risk areas. Anyone over 18 who lives or works in the northern health region can get a vaccine, as can any adult who lives or works in a public setting in six Winnipeg neighbourhoods and downtown Brandon.
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Saskatchewan
The Saskatchewan Health Authority is currently booking vaccinations for residents 42 and older, however the age eligibility is expected to be lowered to 40 starting Friday. The minimum age for people living in the Far North is 30.
All workers identified as priority are also eligible for shots starting Friday. Additional workers include police, firefighters, public-health inspectors, teachers and educational staff working with students.
The province previously expanded the vaccine delivery plan for people in more vulnerable groups to include all pregnant women and 16- and 17-year-olds who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable.
Saskatchewan also dropped the age at which people can receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to 40 from 55.
There are drive-thru and walk-in vaccination clinics in communities across the province.
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Alberta
Albertans born in 2009 or earlier with high-risk underlying health conditions are eligible for shots.
The next phase of health-care workers can also book appointments: physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, their office staff, lab workers, practicum students in clinical areas, as well as health workers on First Nations reserves and Metis settlements.
Previously, shots have been available to front-line health workers, staff and residents in supportive living facilities, Albertans born in 1956 or earlier and First Nations, Inuit and Metis people born in 1971 or earlier.
For the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, the province has lowered the minimum age to 40 from 55. For those living in the hot spots of Banff and Lake Louise as well as the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, the age for AstraZeneca is 30.
The Moderna vaccine is also available to Indigenous people in Wood Buffalo as young as 30.
More than 250 pharmacies are offering immunizations. Ten physicians clinics across the province are also providing shots as part of a pilot project, which could be expanded in May.
About 15,000 workers at 136 meat-packing plants across the province can also get shots at on-site clinics, pharmacies and health clinics.
Alberta has said it is extending the time between the first dose and the second to four months. But some cancer patients are able to book a second dose 21 to 28 days after their first.
Health Minister Tyler Shandro has said the province expects to offer all Albertans 18 and over a first dose by the end of June.
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British Columbia
The province has lowered the eligibility age for people to register for COVID-19 vaccinations.
The Ministry of Health says all adults over the age of 18 are now eligible to register for vaccines through the province's Get Vaccinated program.
Once registered, users receive a confirmation code. They then wait for an email, text or call telling them they're eligible and can book their vaccine appointment using that code.
Health authorities are also targeting so-called hot spot communities that have been hardest hit by COVID-19 with dedicated clinics, which the provincial government says are using its ``limited'' supply of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
B.C. has lowered the age for those eligible to receive the AstraZeneca shot to 30, starting with those in `hot spot' communities and adding appointments at pharmacies as supplies improve.
Firefighters, police and paramedics, meanwhile, are being vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines alongside staff at schools and childcare centres.
The province says more than 1.7 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines have been administered, with more than 89,000 of those being a second shot.
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Nunavut
Nunavut has opened vaccinations to anyone 18 and older.
It is also offering shots to rotational workers coming from Southern Canada.
The territory expects to finish its vaccine rollout of first and second doses by the end of April.
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Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories is also providing vaccine to those 18 and older and expects to finish its rollout by the end of April.
It is similarly offering shots to rotational workers and mine employees coming from Southern Canada.
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Yukon
There have been almost 48,000 doses of Moderna vaccine administered in Yukon, 25,731 of them first doses and 22, 032 of them second shots.
More than 70 per cent of Yukon residents have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Health officials say that means they can reduce the hours of operation at the Whitehorse vaccine clinic.
A statement from the territory says at the peak of the process, hundreds of people are day were coming into the Whitehorse clinic.
Deputy health minister Stephen Samis says they'll scale down operations and focus some efforts on other vaccinations, including pre-kindergarten and routine childhood vaccines.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2021.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2021