The province is going to integrate the AstraZeneca vaccine into its provincial vaccination roll-out plan,
On Tuesday, the province announced it will use AstraZeneca to immunize those 40 and older.
To date, residents ages 40 and over who have contracted COVID-19 have seen the most severe outcomes, accounting for 84 per cent of total hospitalizations and 96 per cent of total deaths.
Based on the current vaccine allocation schedule, the vaccine eligibility age is expected to drop to 44 and older province wide starting Thursday and to 40 and older starting Wednesday, April 28
Once COVID-19 vaccine eligibility has been opened to all residents ages 40 and over, the province will prioritize access to the COVID-19 vaccine through mass-vaccination settings to remaining prioritized first-responders along with additional front-line workers ages 16+, depending on vaccine product, including:
- Police officers
- Firefighters
- Front-line healthcare workers with direct patient contact employed by the SHA or private employers (including dentists, optometrists, chiropractors)
- Teachers and educational staff working directly with students
- Correctional staff
- Border security officers
After the eligibility of prioritized groups of workers, the age based system in opening vaccine eligibility to the remaining population will continue decreasing in age from 40-16.
