Ontario lowers eligibilty of AstraZeneca vaccine as cases are on the rise once again

Covid vaccine supplies are set to increase in the coming weeks and months. Photo: QNet News.

By Charlotte Oduol 

BELLEVILLE- Pharmacies across the Quinte region have begun administering shots of AstraZeneca to more groups of people.

Suzanne Ferguson, 56, a retired high school teacher in Belleville is one of the many that received their shot this week.

Ferguson believes it was necessary for herself and to protect those around her.

“I received my first shot on Tuesday at Metro pharmacy in Trenton,” said Ferguson in a phone interview with QNetNews. 

Ferguson booked her appointment late Friday night and says she was quite impressed with just how easy and quick the booking for her appointment was.

“ I went onto the website for the Hastings Prince Edward County health unit and there was a whole list of various pharmacies that were able to offer it. If you clicked on one of those, they had a link that had the option to register by either email or phone number,” said Ferguson.

 “I mean I did this by Friday midnight and had two appointments right then and there. Now mind you by Saturday morning when I went back and checked the Walmart site which is one of the other places I had booked with, that option was no longer available.”

Ferguson said she is not experiencing any major side effects at this time other than fatigue and minor aches but encourages everyone to stay proactive and stay up to date with the news on any booking fill-ups or availabilities. 

 “The hardest bit of this last year with the pandemic and lockdowns has had to be when I lost my younger brother Sean, June of last year. He lived in Newfoundland and Newfoundland has been shut off to Ontario so that of course was very traumatizing,” said Ferguson.

She also regularly visits her mother in Newfoundland. 

“I go down to spend time with her because you don’t know how much time she has left but I couldn’t go last summer, and I certainly won’t be able to go this summer, so that’s another thing that hits close to home for me.”

At a press conference held on Tuesday by Hastings and Prince Edward Public Health Unit, family physician Ethan Toumishey confirmed the recent updates of vaccines to the city and emphasized how crucial it is for everyone eligible to get vaccinated in the city.

“When we look at vaccinations and AstraZeneca itself which is crucial to addressing the overall spread of Covid-19 and case counts in the city, vaccination is absolutely going to contribute to that as we increase the amount of immunity within the population,” said Toumishey.

“There remain quite a few residents that need to get vaccinated but I do see optimistic turns for an increase of supply for vaccines and I know at the provincial and national level, lots of efforts have been made on procurement… so I’m optimistic that we can see the acceleration of vaccine plans and crucially as we can have this rollout as quickly, we can see the greatest benefit for the community.”