Bookings for a new bivalent vaccine designed to offer more targeted protection against the Omicron variant opened Monday for all Ontario adults aged 18 and older.
Those 12 to 17 who are moderately to severely immunocompromised are also eligible.
Appointments can be booked through the province’s vaccination portal or by calling the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre at 1-833-943-3900. Eligible individuals can also book an appointment directly through public health units that use their own booking systems, Indigenous-led vaccination clinics, participating health care providers and participating pharmacies.
The government also announced that Pfizer’s paediatric vaccine, approved by Health Canada earlier this month, is now available for children aged six months to under five years old.
That paediatric vaccine is administered in a three-dose series with a recommended interval of eight weeks between doses. It is not recommended to be administered in mixed doses with the previously-approved Moderna children's vaccine.
The bivalent booster is given at a recommended interval of six months (168 days) from the previous dose, with a minimum interval of three months.
Vulnerable individuals such as those aged 70 and older and immunocompromised individuals are recommended to get the bivalent shot at the minimum interval, the government said.
In a statement, chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore urged Ontarians to take advantage of protection from vaccines heading into winter, when respiratory illnesses typically spike.
“The bivalent COVID-19 booster provides better protection against the currently circulating COVID-19 variants in Ontario,” he said. “We also know that getting your child vaccinated improves their immune response to COVID-19 infection and reduces the possibility of severe disease and hospitalization and post COVID-19 symptoms.”
