A key milestone has been reached in the province's fight against COVID-19, paving the way for Ontario to begin rolling out second doses.
So far, 65 percent of Ontario adults have received a first shot, allowing the province to begin administering second doses to people 80 and older beginning Monday.
Premier Doug Ford also announced beginning the week of June 14th, second doses will be offered to people 70 and up.
After that residents will become eligible for a second dose based on when they got their first one.
He says the province expects to fully vaccinate the majority of Ontarians who choose to get vaccinated by the end of the summer.
"Having made so much progress administering first doses, we are now in a position to begin delivering second doses for a two-dose summer. If we receive more vaccines from the federal government, we’ll be able to accelerate our rollout further to offer more protection to Ontarians even sooner."
Moving up the second dose will be optional, and people will be able to choose to keep their original appointments or re-book their second shot for an earlier date.
The Premier also addressed parents on the issue of returning to school, as well as the federal government on the issue of border closures.
Ford said any decision about re-opening schools will be based on medical advice from professionals, but variant-related cases coming through the borders continue to pose a significant risk.
Yesterday, the Premier wrote to 55 different groups including educators and health professionals to gauge their thoughts on whether or not to re-open schools.
He says he's not ready to make an announcement about the re-opening of in-person classes.
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