Dozens more Ottawa pharmacies to begin offering vaccines to ages 55+

Ottawa's pharmacy vaccine rolloutis set to drastically expand in the coming days when dozens of new locations begin administering the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, the province has announced.

More than 700 locations provincewide have been added to the COVID-19 pharmacy pilot project and will be able to immunizepeople aged 55 and olderas soon as Monday, according to a Sunday media release.

In Ottawa, that includes around 80 new locations, Nepean MPPLisa MacLeod said in a tweet.

A list later released by the province added about 50 locations elsewhere in eastern Ontario in communities ranging from Cornwall to Trenton to Deep River.

"It's great news," said Coun. Keith Egli, chair of the Ottawa Board of Health.

"It will help us get more more doses into more arms more quickly, and anything that does that is welcome."

At the moment, there are 34 pharmacies in Ottawa that are able to offer COVID-19 vaccinations.

Egli said he understands this expansion means there will now be at least one participating pharmacy in every ward in the city,anddepending on supply of AstraZeneca-Oxford,that means more opportunities for people to get their first shot.

In his own tweet, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson thanked the province for including more locations in the downtown core and inVanier.

Sunday's announcement brings the number of pharmacies participating in the pilot project to around 1,400. The province is aiming to have 1,500 pharmacies providing vaccine doses by the end of April.

While the new pharmacies can start offering shots as soon as Monday, not all will begin doing so at the same time, the province said.

People are still being asked to checkthe province's list of participating locationsand to contact individual pharmacies to book their appointment.