York Region says it’s been given ‘heads up’ by Ontario to shorten 2nd dose interval

Globalnews.ca
May 28, 2021
Gabby Rodrigues

York Region’s medical officer of health says the province has “given us the heads up” that possibly as early as next week second doses will be administered earlier than expected.

The regions top doctor Dr. Karim Kurji said the over 80 age group will be first followed by 70 and older.

“We are currently working through the logistics of this particular move with the objective of being fair and causing the minimal confusion,” Kurji said in a statement.

“At this point in time we are still evaluating our different options.”

Officials from York Region said it was a province-wide directive from the Ontario government on the dosage interval. Officials with the Ontario government said more details on next steps of the vaccination rollout will be provided on Friday.

Due to limited vaccine supply, the Ontario government had implemented a 16-week dosage interval between first and second doses in order to get as many first shots into people’s arm as possible. A move that was seen in the U.K. to provide a wide range of some protection to more of the population.

There are a few exceptions, including long-term care and retirement residents who were fully vaccinated and one of the first to receive vaccinations. In May, Ontario also expanded second doses to high-risk health care workers.

In March, many seniors who got a first vaccine dose had their second shots rebooked for four months later. Moving to second doses for the 80-plus group as early as next week could shorten the interval by a month or a couple weeks.

Pfizer’s vaccine was originally developed for a 21-day interval between each shot. Moderna was a 28-day interval and AstraZeneca was developed for between four and twelve weeks.