Healthcare partners in Muskoka are now offering booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to more vulnerable groups in the region.
The Algonquin Family Health Team (AFHT) says the third shot is now available to anyone 70 years and older, health care workers, caregivers in congregate settings, anyone who got both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine or one dose of the Janssen vaccine, and First Nation, Inuit and Métis adults and their non-Indigenous household members 16 years old and over.
These groups can book their appointment for the third shot as soon as they are 168 days, or about 6 months, away from their second dose.
Previously eligible Ontarians however can still get their third shot 56 days, or about two months after their second vaccine.
Those include transplant and specific immunocompromising medications recipients, residents of long-term care homes, retirement homes and First Nation elder care lodges, seniors living in other congregate settings, those with solid tumors or hematological cancers on active treatment, as well as those who have severe primary immunodeficiency or advanced untreated HIV.
Once eligible, Muskoka residents are able to book their booster dose appointment through the COVID-19 vaccination portal by going to the Ontario Provincial Booking Site.
Ontario Health recommends that your 3rd dose be the same as your 2nd unless you received AstraZeneca twice, in which case you can receive either Pfizer or Moderna.