A pilot project offering COVID-19 vaccines in pharmacies is expanding more broadly starting Friday.
Some pharmacies in Toronto, Windsor and Kingston health units have already started offering Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines to residents between the ages of 60 to 64.
Earlier this week, the province released the locations of more than 325 pharmacies that will be administering the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Residents aged 60 to 64 as of the day of vaccination or if you will be or have been 60 to 64 in 2021, with the birth years 1957 to 1961, will be eligible to book an appointment with one of the pharmacies.
Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaws, Rexall and Costco are among those who will be administering the vaccine along with some independent pharmacies.
RELATED: Full list of pharmacies administering AstraZeneca shot starting Friday
Justin Bates of the Ontario Pharmacists’ Association says additional shots were to arrive on Thursday. That means vaccinations are set to begin at more sites on Friday.
Bates says interest in the pilot has been overwhelming.
Individual pharmacies are using their own booking systems and Bates says people should check online before calling due to high call volumes.
A portion of the AstraZeneca doses are also going to primary care physicians who will administer them to their patients in the regions of Hamilton, Toronto, Guelph, Peterborough, Simcoe-Muskoka, and Peel, starting on March 13.
Physicians won’t be taking appointments and will only be contacting their patients who are eligible.
The vaccine from AstraZeneca is the third approved in the county, but the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is concerned there is limited data on how well the vaccine will work in older populations. The NACI is not recommending the shot for anyone over the age of 65.
