Ontario has administered over 5.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine

Premier Ford says Friday night the province will reach milestone of vaccinating over 40% of adults

TORONTO, May 1, 2021 – Yesterday afternoon, from his late mother’s backyard in Etobicoke, where Doug Ford is isolating due to possible exposure to the virus a week ago, the Premier announced that as of Friday morning, Ontario has administered over 5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Ford was correct, as of Saturday morning, the province has now administered over 5.2 million doses to an adult population of over 11.6 million (according to the 2016 census). While the total population of Ontario is over 14.7 million.

Premier Ford also said the province should reach its initial goal of administering a first dose to 40 per cent of Ontario adults by the time the provincewide stay-at-home order was initially slated to be lifted on May 6. The order was later extended to May 20.

“I am as happy as you about the news for more vaccines, we hit five million vaccines yesterday, and I’m happy that I can tell you that by the end of today, we will have administered the first vaccine to 40 per cent of Ontario adults. This is great news, it’s news we’ve all been waiting for,” Ford said.

So far, over 371,100 people have been fully vaccinated with two Ontario approved vaccine doses.

With vaccine shipments continuing to arrive steadily, the province also lowered the age eligibility threshold to 55 on Friday, saying it will be lowered weekly. Ontarians 50 plus will be able to book their vaccine in the week of May 3, followed by 40 plus the following week of May 10, then 30 plus in the week of May 17. The province expects to be vaccinating individuals 18 and up by the week of May 24.

As of Saturday at 8:49 am CST, more than 13,527,848 doses of approved COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across Canada. Ontario has vaccinated the most people in Canada administering 5,247,684 doses, while Quebec has vaccinated the second most at 3,104,026.