BARRIE, ONT. -- Starting Tuesday, people aged 18 and over in Simcoe Muskoka will be able to sign up for the COVID-19 vaccine.
The rollout is a week ahead of schedule.
“With 2.2 million doses scheduled to arrive this week, the government is extending booking eligibility at mass immunization clinics to individuals aged 18 and over,” the province said in a news release Monday.
Booking begins 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, and any individuals aged 18 and over in 2021 across Ontario will be eligible to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment, including 17-year-old residents who will turn 18 in 2021.
"Those appointments start as early as June 3," said Stella Johnson, the operations manager at RVH in Barrie. "We're adding some additional capacity at the end of May and already ramping up to almost 10,000 appointments this week alone, fully booked."
Supply is increasing across Simcoe Muskoka, with the RVH-run Sperling Drive Vaccination Clinic in Barrie getting approximatley 3000 extra doses and another 200 extra doses per day being administered at a drive-thru clinic in Collingwood. On Monday, 600 Pfizer and Moderna doses were administered during expanded hours.
The province is aiming for all eligible Ontarians to be fully vaccinated by the end of September.
More information on the Simcoe Muskoka vaccine program, booking an appointment and where clinics are located, is available here.
