Toronto 
Ontario is expanding COVID-19 vaccine eligibility again this week, opening up appointments to people as young as 18 across the province.
Ontario government says booking eligibility will be lowered to individuals aged 18 and over starting May 18th as the government is expecting 2.2 million doses this week.
The federal government says it expects around 4.5 million doses to arrive this week thanks to planned deliveries from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
As of 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, individuals aged 18 and over in 2021 across Ontario will be eligible to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment through the provincial booking system and call centre, or directly through public health units that use their own booking system.
Individuals who are 17 years old and are turning 18 in 2021 will also be eligible to book their COVID-19 vaccination appointment only for the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. The Pfizer vaccine is currently the only COVID-19 vaccine that has been authorized by Health Canada for use in youth aged 12 and over.
Ontario previously announced that government will offer Pfizer vaccines to youth between the ages of 12 and 17, beginning the week of May 31, 2021.
Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are available through pharmacies in hot spots and on May 14, 2021, over 500 additional pharmacies in all 13 hot spot public health regions began administering the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
The province is also switching gears in how it distributes vaccines.
It will now send the shots to regions on a per-capita basis, after two weeks of sending half the vaccine supply to COVID-19 hot spots.
The province has said it hopes to see all eligible Ontarians fully vaccinated by the end of September. The government said it’s on track to see 65 per cent of Ontario adults receive a first dose by the end of this month.
The eligibility expansion come after a milestone weekend for the province.
Premier Doug Ford tweeted yesterday that seven million doses of vaccine had been administered in Ontario.
Meanwhile, Shoppers Drug Mart said it is now offering rapid antigen COVID-19 tests for asymptomatic people at all its pharmacies in Ontario and Alberta, though these have to be purchased.
— With Files From The Canadian Press
