What you need to know about the red zone restrictions,
Provinces revise vaccination timelines as fourth shot approved
Some provinces are setting out on ambitious accelerations of their vaccine rollouts as Canada expands its stockpile of shots to protect against COVID-19.
Health Canada approved the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson on Friday, as federal officials announced that the manufacturer of the PfizerBioNTech vaccine was expediting shipments of 3.5 million doses to arrive before the summer.
As the country’s vaccination campaign continues to gain steam, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau assured Canadians that a growing share of the population would soon be immunized.
“The people watching at home right now who are looking forward to getting their shot: Your turn is coming,” Trudeau told a news conference Friday.
“We will continue to work around the clock to make sure Canadians get vaccinated as quickly as possible.”
Several provinces readjusted their vaccine targets Friday to account for the flurry of promising developments over the past week, including two additions to Canada’s vaccine portfolio and an expert panel’s endorsement of a strategy to delay a second vaccine dose and at least partially inoculate as many people as quickly as possible.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is the fourth shot to get the green light for use in Canada and the only one to require just a single dose.
Canada has pre-purchased 10 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and has options to buy another 28 million doses.
Authorities announced Friday that the manufacturer of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has pushed up its shipment schedule to send an extra 1.5 million doses this month, and another two million doses in April and May.
Shipments of the two-dose Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which Health Canada approved last Friday, are expected to be distributed across the country in coming weeks.
On Wednesday, a national panel of vaccine experts recommended that provinces extend the interval between the two doses of a COVID-19 shot to up to four months when faced with a limited supply, saying it will create opportunities to protect the entire adult population against the virus within a short time frame.
The Ontario government also unveiled an updated vaccination timeline Friday, noting it does not factor in the newly approved Johnson & Johnson shot or extra doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine.
Under the next phase of Ontario’s plan, residents aged 75 and older, people with specific health conditions and some caregivers will be able to get their shots starting in April.
Also in Ontario, Toronto and neighbouring Peel Region will see restrictions loosen next week as the province lifts a strict stay-at-home order.
The two regions, along with North Bay Parry Sound, were the last ones still under the order, while most of the province transitioned back to the government’s colour-coded pandemic response framework last month.
Toronto and Peel will be placed in the strictest “grey lockdown” category of the framework starting on Monday, as was recommended by public health officials in the two regions.
That will allow more retailers to open, with restrictions, but leaves gyms, personal care services and indoor restaurant dining closed.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said the government is taking a “safe and cautious approach” to ending the provincewide shutdown.
“Despite this positive step forward, a return to the framework is not a return to normal,” she said in a statement.