Youth in Ontario living in Delta variant hot spots can move up 2nd vaccine doses

Ontario youth between the ages of 12 to 17 who live in designated hot spots for the Delta COVID-19 variant can book accelerated second vaccine dose appointments today.

Health units covering Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Peel, Porcupine, Simcoe-Muskoka, Toronto, Waterloo, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph and York are considered hot spots for the more transmissible variant.

That demographic will have the option to re-book their second doses as of 8 a.m. today, through the provincial booking portal, pharmacies or their local health unit.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is the only shot currently authorized for use in youth in Canada.

Vaccines have been booked four months apart in Ontario, but the province is offering more people the option to shorten the interval based on increasing vaccine supply.

Youth elsewhere in the province will keep their second-dose appointments for now, but the province says it's aiming to accelerate doses for them before school returns in September.