Ontario plans to soon begin offering fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccine to residents aged 60 and over, the province’s health minister said on Tuesday, adding that the province was equipped to handle rising cases and hospitalization.
Christine Elliott said a plan would be announced Wednesday to extend fitness for second reinforcements.
“Our medical advisers advised … to go to 60 to provide an extra level of protection to Ontario residents,” he told the county legislature.
“We will have more details on the details available tomorrow, but 60 will be the age at which people can take (fourth shots).”
The fourth installments in Ontario are already available to long-term care and nursing residents, as well as those who are immunosuppressed.
Ontario plans to open fourth-dose access to people age 60 and older following new advice from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.  On Tuesday, the commission said provinces and counties should begin preparing plans to implement fourth shots in the coming weeks, giving priority to people aged 80 and over and long-term care residents.
Developments in Ontario vaccination plans come as the province sees increasing hospitalizations for COVID-19.
There were 1,091 people hospitalized with the virus on Tuesday, nearly 40 percent higher than a week earlier.  That number exceeded forecasts by the provincial pandemic team of expert advisers, who predicted last month that hospitalizations could be about half that number by early April.
Ontario ended mask orders in most public places two weeks ago, with the exception of public transportation and health care facilities such as hospitals and long-term care homes.
Prime Minister Doug Ford on Monday described the rise in cases as “a slight rise” in the province and Eliot reiterated that message on Tuesday.
“It simply came to our notice then.  “This is something that when you open the province to the extent that we have, and with the contagion of this virus, we expected to see the numbers increase,” Eliot said.
Like Ford, he noted the addition of 3,100 new hospital beds, the county’s highly vaccinated population and access to antiviral drugs, which he said would help the county deal with the latest wave of cases.
“We have the measures we need to deal with it,” he said.
Eliot also reiterated that the province has no plans to reinstate its broad mask mandate, saying that Dr.  Kieran Moore, the county chief physician, has not recommended it.
Moore described the province’s plans to lift public health measures a month ago.  Since then, he has not been available for media updates or regular interviews to discuss the pandemic.  Eliot said Tuesday that Moore chose to make less frequent media appearances about COVID-19 because he felt they were not necessary at this point.
“If he feels that the situation is changing and wants to come back and do more frequent interviews and meetings, then he is definitely free to do so,” he said.
Earlier Tuesday, Eliot said the county planned to facilitate access to a COVID-19 antiviral drug.
Immunocompromised adults and some unvaccinated COVID-19 patients eligible for Paxlovid in Ontario, including unvaccinated individuals 60 years of age and older, and unvaccinated individuals 50 years of age and older who are native or have at least one native for the disease.
However, concerns have been expressed about the difficulty of accessing the drug, which is only effective if treatment is started within five days of the onset of symptoms.
Eliot said Paxlovid was originally distributed in 26 locations and now that supply has increased, the county plans to bring more locations to traffic, such as pharmacies and other locations.
He said the province also plans to expand its drug education program so people know they are eligible.
The opposition NDP said the drug should be more affordable to those who need it as the virus spreads, in addition to other measures to manage the latest wave, such as extending access to testing.
NDP Deputy Leader Sarah Singh said the government and Moore should do more to manage the rise.
“We need to see a clear direction, we need a precautionary response,” Singh said.  “There are so many measures this government needs to take right now to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in our communities that are simply failing to do so.”
Earlier in the week, Ontario’s largest school committee said it would continue to inform entire school communities about COVID-19 cases.  The Toronto District School Committee said Monday it will provide letters with information about affected classes by the end of the school year to give a more “comprehensive picture.”
This Canadian Press report was first published on April 5, 2022.