ONTARIO VACCINE TIMETABLE EXPECTED OVER NEXT WEEKS

Ontario will lay out the order and time frame in which specific population groups will be immunized against COVID-19, possibly within the next few weeks. Dr. Dirk Huyer, a member of the province’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution task force, says the group is working to determine the sequencing “over the next number of weeks,” after which it should be publicly released. He says it won’t be broken down at the individual level, but by category such as health-care workers. Huyer says that within each category, there will be further prioritization based on factors such as risk of exposure to COVID-19 and the number of cases in a geographic area. The province has released its ethical framework for determining who will get immunized first as more doses of various COVID-19 shots are delivered. The principles listed in the framework include equity, fairness and transparency, and stress the need to protect those who face the greatest risk of serious illness and death due to “biological, social, geographical, and occupational factors.”