4-month gap between COVID-19 vaccine shots could be reduced, some AZ doses may go to waste
by Dilshad Burman
Last Updated May 17, 2021 at 6:20 pm EDT
A COVID-19 vaccine is prepared in Toronto, ON (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Ontario health officials say they are hopeful the current four-month interval between COVID-19 vaccine doses will be reduced as vaccine supply increases and more people get their first shots.
Provincial medical officer of health Dr. David Williams said the decision to increase the interval of the vaccines from the manufacturer recommended three or four weeks to four months was made to ensure “maximum benefit in the shortest time, with everybody getting one dose.”
by News Staff
Last Updated Apr 23, 2021 at 6:39 pm EDT
FILE: A person wears a protective face mask to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 as they walk past the emergency department of the Vancouver General Hospital in Vancouver Wednesday, November 18, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Thirty-six cases of the double mutant COVID-19 variant first discovered in India, B.1.617, have been detected in Ontario.
Public Health Ontario says six of the cases detected through Public Health Ontario’s genomics surveillance program were all linked to international travel.
The other 30 were detected through Ontario’s COVID-19 airport and land border screening program through the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg. All the cases were detected in the last couple days.