Hastings and Prince Edward Counties/May 6, 2021 – Beginning today, Thursday May 6, booking eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations has been expanded in Hastings and Prince Edward Counties.

Who is Eligible to Book?

The following groups are now eligible to book COVID-19 vaccination appointments directly at ontario.ca/bookvaccine.

• Individuals turning 50 and over in 2021
• Health care or personal support workers
• Licensed childcare workers
• Education workers (including special education)
• Residents and staff in care homes and group living settings (including essential caregivers)
• People with high risk health conditions and their caregivers (for example, BMI of over 40, chemotherapy, Down syndrome)
• People with highest-risk health conditions and their caregivers (for example, pregnancy, organ transplant, multiple sclerosis)
• Chronic home health care recipients
• First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals, including members of their household
• People who cannot work from home (Group One), which includes
  • Agriculture and farm workers
  • Education workers in elementary and secondary schools
  • Enforcement, inspection and compliance roles (by-law enforcement, building inspectors, food inspectors, border inspection officers, labour inspectors, and WSIB field workers)
  • Foster care agency workers (including customary care providers)
  • Food manufacturing and distribution workers
  • Funeral, crematory, and cemetery workers
  • Workers responding to critical events (police, fire, special constables, children’s aid society workers, infrastructure restoration workers)

How to Book Your Appointment

Eligible individuals are encouraged to book online at ontario.ca/bookvaccine. Online booking is encouraged. If you are unable to book online, please contact the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900.  The Booking Line is available 8 a.m.- 8 p.m., Monday-Sunday. You will need your health card number to book, and you may be asked qualifying questions such as where you work, and the nature of your employment. As booking is managed by the province, please do not contact HPEPH to inquire about appointment booking.

Please be Patient

While the province has expanded eligibility to book appointments, HPEPH can only administer the amount of vaccines received in our region each week. Unfortunately, this means that being eligible to book does not guarantee that an appointment will be available right away. HPEPH will be able to offer more appointments each week. Eligible individuals are encouraged to continue checking Ontario.ca/bookvaccine as new clinic dates are added frequently. Eligible groups who are not able to secure an appointment can register on HPEPH’s standby list each week.  Please note – in order to ensure public health resources are used as effectively as possible during this critical time, only individuals who do not have a booked appointment are eligible to register on the standby list.

While you are waiting for your appointment

We will continue our efforts to vaccinate all those who are eligible. In the meantime, please continue to follow all public health precautions such as leaving home only for essential reasons, limiting close contact to those within your household, wearing a face covering when distancing is not possible, and washing your hands frequently. If you experience any symptoms of COVID-19, even mild ones, isolate from others and get tested.

Please visit our website and follow us on social media for updated information on everything related to vaccines, including groups that are currently eligible. Thank you again to our community for your patience and enthusiasm as we work diligently to offer vaccines to all our valued residents.

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Media contacts

Emily Tubbs, Communications Specialist
etubbs@hpeph.ca

Maureen Hyland, Communications Specialist
mhyland@hpeph.ca