Where do I go to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment? The latest rules by province

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Less than a year after COVID-19 first reached its shores, Canada began vaccinating people against the virus that causes it – and while the rollout accelerated quickly this spring and summer, it’s not over yet, and health officials are eager to finish the job before new variants create another, potentially deadlier, pandemic.

This is a primer on the provinces’ plans so far. You can also consult our vaccine tracker to see how many doses have been administered by province and territory, and how that stacks up against other countries’ vaccination rates. To see whether Canada’s case numbers are trending up or down, please consult our main COVID-19 data page.

Vaccine rollouts by province

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Newfoundland and Labrador

• Official page: Check Newfoundland and Labrador’s coronavirus information page here and its booking site for vaccinations.
• The plan so far: Newfoundland and Labrador is now vaccinating everyone 12 and up, though 12- to 17-year-olds can only get Pfizer. AstraZeneca, previously reserved for ages 55 to 64, is no longer being offered for first doses. Second doses are booked along with first doses, but some eligible groups can reschedule earlier appointments for their boosters.

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Prince Edward Island

• Official page: Check PEI’s coronavirus information page and its guide to the vaccine rollout specifically.
• The plan so far: Bookings at public clinics are open to everyone 12 and up. At partner pharmacies across PEI, Moderna is available to islanders 18 and older, but AstraZeneca is no longer being offered for first doses. Second doses are on offer through the summer and fall.

Nova Scotia

• Official page: Check Nova Scotia’s coronavirus information page and its page for booking appointments.
• The plan so far: All Nova Scotians 12 and older can now book at one of the general vaccination clinics. AstraZeneca is no longer being offered for first doses, and the province says it’s scheduling those who previously had it to get Pfizer or Moderna boosters.

New Brunswick

• Official page: Check New Brunswick’s coronavirus information page here and its guide to the vaccine rollout specifically.
• The plan so far: New Brunswickers 12 and older are currently eligible for a shot. AstraZeneca is being used for second doses only in people aged 55 or older. The timetable for second doses will speed up on June 14; learn more here.

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Quebec

• Official page: Check Quebec’s coronavirus information page and its guide to the vaccine rollout specifically.
• The plan so far: In every health region, everyone 12 and older is eligible, and some regions have walk-in clinics that operate depending on the supply of doses available. First doses of AstraZeneca are on hold.

Ontario

• Official page: Check Ontario’s coronavirus information page and its guide to the vaccine rollout specifically.
• The plan so far: Anyone 12 and older is eligible to book an appointment through the provincial online portal, call centre or local health units’ booking systems. AstraZeneca is available for second doses only.

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Manitoba

• Official page: Check Manitoba’s coronavirus information page and its guide to the vaccine rollout specifically.
• The plan so far: At the “supersite” vaccination clinics, all Manitobans 12 and older are eligible for a shot. AstraZeneca is no longer being used for first doses. The province has also signed a deal with North Dakota so that Manitoba truckers can be vaccinated there.

Saskatchewan

• Official page: Check Saskatchewan’s coronavirus information page and its guide to the vaccine rollout specifically.
• The plan so far: Everyone 12 and up is eligible. Bookings can be made through an online portal or by phone at 1-833-727-5829. AstraZeneca is no longer being offered for first doses.

Alberta

• Official page: Check the Alberta government’s coronavirus information page and Alberta Health Services’ vaccination page.
• The plan so far: In early May, Alberta became the first province to make everyone 12 and older eligible, and also the first to suspend all new first doses of AstraZeneca. Bookings can be made through an online portal.

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B.C.

• Official page: Check B.C.’s coronavirus information page and its guide to the vaccine rollout specifically.
• The plan so far: British Columbians aged 12 and up can register for appointments now. AstraZeneca is no longer available for first doses. People who got first shots are notified by text, e-mail or phone call to get their second shots.

Territories

• Official pages: Check the coronavirus information pages for Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and Yukon.
• The plan so far: Most of the doses being offered in the territories are Moderna, since Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine is prohibitively hard to store, though health authorities have secured Pfizer for vaccinating children.

National overview

How do the vaccines get to where I live?

The Trudeau government has bought tens of millions of doses of various vaccines and is co-ordinating with provinces, territories and First Nations to deliver them to Canadians free of charge. The vaccines go through a central agency, the National Operations Centre, where health officials and the military organize their distribution.

Which COVID-19 vaccine will I get in Canada?

So far, Health Canada has approved four vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Except for Johnson & Johnson’s, which requires only one injection, they’re two-dose drugs, but Canada’s vaccine advisory committee has encouraged health officials to wait up to four months between doses. This will allow provinces to stretch supplies to as many people in as short a time as possible, breaking the chain of COVID-19 transmission and allowing restrictions to be lifted sooner.

Which COVID-19 vaccine is safest?

All of the drugs approved so far are effective and safe. Not all of them work in the same way: Pfizer and Moderna are new types of mRNA-based vaccine that give the immune system a sample of the virus’s genetic material to teach it how to fight back, whereas AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are more traditional viral-vector vaccines.

Eligibility for the non-mRNA drugs has changed dramatically as health officials learned about a rare form of blood clotting, vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, in people who received doses. The risk of VITT is very low, regardless of age, but it’s far less likely to occur in older people. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended in May that AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson be reserved for people over 30 who don’t want to wait for an mRNA drug, and for essential workers who can’t wait. That advice polarized doctors who maintain that Canadians should accept the first drug they’re offered, or risk getting sick or infecting others if they wait for a different one. It’s also led all provinces to stop giving AstraZeneca for first doses; those who’ve already had a first AstraZeneca dose may get a different booster.

What other COVID-19 vaccines are in development?

Ottawa has pre-purchased three other vaccine candidates and uses a “rolling submission” process so Health Canada can evaluate them before all the data is gathered:

• Novavax
• Medicago/GlaxoSmithKline
• Sanofi/GlaxoSmithKline

What is Ottawa’s overall plan?

Ottawa’s initial timetable calls for all Canadians to be vaccinated by December, though some provinces think they can finish inoculating their own populations sooner than that.

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Compiled by Globe staff

With reports from The Canadian Press, Ivan Semeniuk and Kelly Grant

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