Mayor Jim Watson says the city of Ottawa will receive 89,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to use over the next two weeks, opening up more appointment slots for residents aged 70 and older to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
In a statement Friday morning, the city said it has confirmed delivery of additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and is able to offer more vaccination appointments to eligible residents.
“We’re received, for the next two weeks, a little over 89,000 doses for our community clinics in the various communities, that’s very good news,” said Watson.
“I’ve been getting feedback on social media all day, people have been able to get appointments – that’s something they were very frustrated with.”
Individuals born in or before 1951 can now book appointments at the city of Ottawa’s community clinics between April 8 and 21.
Last Monday, Ontario expanded the eligibility to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to residents aged 70 and over in the city of Ottawa. Within hours, all appointments until April 7 were booked in Ottawa.
The city says appointments will be available at the four community vaccination clinics:
- Nepean Sportsplex
- Ruddy Family YMCA-YWCA
- Eva James Memorial Community Centre
- Ottawa City Hall
When you book an appointment through the provincial booking system, you will receive a confirmation code. Bring the code with you when you go to your appointment.
To book an appointment, you can visit Ontario’s online booking system or call the provincial vaccine booking line at 1-833-943-3900 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., seven days a week.
As of 4:30 p.m., 11,617 appointments had been booked on Friday for residents aged 70 and older to receive a COVID-19 shot.
After raising concerns last week that Ottawa wasn’t receiving it’s fair share of COVID-19 vaccines, Watson says the city is seeing some progress.
“We’re making some progress and making up for the fact that we weren’t getting our fair share,” said Watson. “We pushed the province hard and to their credit they’re starting to come with greater quantities here to Ottawa and to Eastern Ontario.”
The city will receive 11,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that will be distributed to primary caregivers and doctors.
Thirty-four Ottawa pharmacies will begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations as early as Saturday to residents 55 and over.. Contact the pharmacy for information.
Councillor Mathieu Fleury says there needs to be more pharmacies offering the COVID-19 vaccine in the downtown core.
“From Rideau Shoppers, the next one that encompasses the city’s core is on Richmond (road), that’s really far west,” Fleury said on Sunday.
“There’s just thousands of residents that would meet the criteria to get vaccinated. We want vaccinations to not be a barrier.”
The mayor said Thursday the city hopes the province will allow more pharmacies in the downtown core to offer the COVID-19 vaccine as vaccine supplies increase.
COVID-19 doses administered in Ottawa
As of Friday, April 2, 151,286 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ottawa.
Ottawa Public Health reports 124,462 people have received the first shot, while 26,824 people have received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
Thirteen per cent of Ottawa’s eligible residents have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The city has received 174,410 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to date.
What you need to book an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine
The Ontario government says when booking an appointment, you will be asked for the following information:
- Government of Ontario green photo health card
- Birth date
- Postal code
- Email address or phone number
At the time of booking, eligible individuals will schedule their first and second vaccination appointments
