Select Ontarians can get third COVID-19 shots: Here's who they are

Ontario will provide third doses of COVID-19 vaccine to people who are members of certain medically vulnerable populations.

On Tuesday, the announcement came from Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore as part of a slew of new measures to protect against the Delta variant, including new directives mandating vaccination for health and education workers.

In a news release Tuesday, the province described third doses as an “extra layer of protection against the Delta variant” for Ontario’s most vulnerable.

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People eligible for a third dose include:

• Transplant recipients (including organs and hematopoietic stem cells)
• Patients with hematological cancers (e.g. lymphoma, myeloma, leukemia) on active treatment (chemotherapy, targeted therapies, immunotherapy)
• Recipients of an anti-CD20 agent (e.g. rituximab, ocrelizumab, ofatumumab)
• Residents in high-risk congregate settings such as long-term care homes, retirement homes, and First Nation eldercare lodges

It will be up to a region’s local public health unit to decide when to roll out third doses to these people, but the province said it expects third doses could be given as early as this week.