COVID-19 boosters to open to Ontarians 50+ as of Dec. 13, province reports 959 new cases

Ontario reported 959 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, while the province announced the expandedeligibility for vaccine booster shots to those aged 50 and older.

In a news release issued Thursday afternoon, the province saidthat starting on Dec. 13 at 8 a.m. ET, people aged 50 and older will be able to schedule their booster throughtheCOVID-19 vaccination portal, by calling the provincial vaccine contact centre, through Indigenous-led vaccination clinics, and inselect pharmaciesand primary care settings.

Appointments will be booked for about six months after a person'ssecond dose, officials said.

As well, people receiving dialysis are now eligible to receive a third vaccine dose if it has been 56 days since their second dose. The province is also recommending re-vaccinationpost-transplantation for peoplewho receive hematopoietic stem cell transplants, hematopoietic cell transplants, and recipients of CAR-T-cell therapy, due to the loss of immunity following therapy or transplant.

Starting in January, the province says it will further expand eligibility for booster shots based on age and risk, with an interval of six to eight months from a second dose.

"If you are eligible for a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, please book your appointment as soon as you can to provide yourself with an extra layer of protection," said Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of HealthDr. Kieran Moore, ina statement.

"If you have not yet received the vaccine, please do so today. This includes vaccinations for children aged five to 11. Achieving the highest vaccination rates possible remains our best tool to protect us, reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, and fight the significant surge of new cases and the new omicron variant."

Those presently eligible for a booster in Ontarioare people aged 70 and older, health-care workers or essential caregivers in congregate settings, people who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine or one dose of Janssen, and First Nations, Inuit and Mtis adults and their non-Indigenous household members.

When asked at a Thursday afternoon press conference why boosters are being capped at people 50 and older right now, Moore said the province has "specific capacity" to provide immunizations in Ontario, but if officials don't see that capacity being used, "we will thenpotentially open it up sooner to other age groups."

Morecases of omicron variant discovered in Ontario

Earlier this week, Moore saidthe province was reviewing its strategyfor third vaccine doses in light of the potentially dangerous new omicron variant of COVID-19.

Ontario confirmed its first cases of the variant over the weekend. Cases have also been confirmed in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec.

Moore said Thursday that the province has so farfound five cases of the variant,and "additional cases will be likely identified in the near future."

Durham Region Health Departmentannounced Thursday it has its first case of a person who has tested positive for the omicron variant.

In a news release, the agency said the person is a close contact of a returning traveller from southern Africa. The health agency also said it ismonitoring other COVID-19 cases under investigation for the omicron variant based on travel history and is working with the province to monitor COVID-19 variants of concern.

Onecase of the Omicron variant wasalsoidentified in HaltonRegion Thursday, according to Dr.HamidahMeghani.

Meghani saidHalton hadidentified one confirmed case of the variant along with two "probable" cases. All threeare linked with one of the probable cases a patient whorecently travelled to Nigeria and all individuals are currently isolating, the release noted.

WATCH | Eligibility varies across country for COVID-19 booster shots:

Eligibility for COVID-19 booster shots varies across Canada

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Ontario will lower the eligibility age for COVID-19 booster shots to 50 and up by mid-December, adding to a shifting map of booster shot eligibility in Canada. There are calls for provinces and territories to be more cohesive with each other on who gets a booster shot.

Similarly, Toronto Public Health has declared a COVID-19 outbreak at the Toronto East Detention Centre linked to the Omicron variant aftera staff membertested positive.

As of Thursday afternoon, TPHconfirmed an additional four inmateshave tested positive for COVID-19. The health unit saidthere's no word yet on what strain of the novel coronavirus the inmates have contracted..

Officials say the outbreak was declared "out of an abundance of cautionas the individual who has tested positive is currently under investigation by Durham Region Health Department with a suspected case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant."

Meanwhile, today's case count marks a 28 per cent jump from the same time last week. The seven-day average of daily cases climbed to 851, its highest point since June 5 when the province's third wave was slowly tapering downward.

According to the latest estimate from Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, cases are currently on track to double every three and a half weeks.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Moore said that in the last few weeks, Ontario has seen case counts increase, with flare-ups in some parts of the province. However, he said, hospital and ICU rates remain stable.

Also this morning, the Ministry of Health said it is in the process of updating how it reports vaccination datafor the province. Until recently, the official statistics were calculated using population numbers from the 2011 census. A spokesperson said the ministry will now use figures from the 2020 census instead.

Based on the revised figures, the ministry said that as of 8 p.m. Wednesday evening, about 87.2 per cent of Ontarians aged 12 and older had had two doses of vaccine. The spokesperson did not indicate when figures for children aged five to 11 will begin to be included in daily updates.

Here are some other key pandemic indicators and figures from the Ministry of Health's daily provincial report:

Patients in ICUwith COVID-related illnesses: 155, with 85 relying on a ventilator to breathe.

Tests completed in the previous 24 hours: 38,480, with a 2.9 per cent provincewide positivity rate.

Active cases: 6,932.

Deaths: Seven,pushing the official toll to 10,012.

Loanguarantees for non-profit long-term care development

Ontario also announced Thursday it isoffering loan guarantees to help not-for-profit long-term care homes acquire development loans.

In a statement, the government saidit's setting aside $388 million in lending from Infrastructure Ontario, the Crown agency that manages infrastructure loans, for the program. It saidapproved borrowing costs for not-for-profit homes will also be reduced.

Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips saidthe program is part of a plan to speed up long-term care development in the province.

Ontario Long-Term Care Association CEO Donna Duncan says the loan commitment will help non-profit members overcome challenges in accessing funding and will help deliver more safe and modern homes in the province.