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Ontario Speeds up Second Vaccine Doses for Residents of Delta Hot Spots

am800-news-covid-vaccine-administered-1.15394172 am800-news-covid-vaccine-administered (Jules Mccusker receives a BioNTech Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from Dr. Shauna Martiniuk, right, an emergency doctor with Mount Sinai Hospital, as Jowite Bydlowska, left, sits alongside him at a pop-up vaccination clinic run by the Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health and the University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Health, in Toronto, Saturday, April 10, 2021. The vaccination centre serves Toronto's Indigenous community. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young))

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Ontario is speeding up second COVID-19 vaccine doses for residents who live in hot spots where the Delta variant of the virus is spreading.

The province says residents who live in seven hot spots and got their first dose on or before May 9 can now book an accelerated second shot as of Monday.

The government will also be encouraging residents of those areas who haven't had their first doses to get vaccinated.

The hot spots that will be prioritized are Halton, Peel, Porcupine, Toronto, Waterloo, York and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph.

Scientific evidence shows people with one vaccine dose are less protected against the highly infectious Delta variant.

Health authorities also reported that Ontario has become one of the world's leaders in terms of first-dose vaccination rates.