The President and CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital says the announcement Wednesday about the expedited rollout of booster COVID-19 vaccines in the province is a positive one.
Premier Doug Ford announced that all adults in Ontario can book COVID-19 booster shots next Monday, if three months have passed since their second vaccine dose.
David Musyj says it indicates the urgency of people needing their booster vaccine, and reducing the time between a second dose and third dose highlights that urgency even more.
"We've been preparing for this, but as Premier Ford did state it's a whole community effort. Some places abandoned their mass vaccination centres, we never have, so they have to ramp those back up. That's number one, number two pharmacies play an important role, and they have and they're going to play an even more important role moving forward."
The province says large companies will help run workplace and community clinics, and some settings like pharmacies can start offering walk-in boosters to anyone 18 and older as of Friday.
Musyj says so far they've seen 30 per cent of eligible people getting their boosters, but that was before a lot more discussion about the Omicron variant and the efficacy of booster doses.
"It's very clear, just like all of the studies coming out one after another now, that indicate that you need the booster in order to take on Omicron with respect to not only acquiring the virus, but definitely avoiding hospitalization or serious illness," Musyj said.
In terms of the impact on the unvaccinated, Musyj says with around 50,000 people locally still yet to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, he's worried about the transmissibility of the new variant increasing pressure on local hospitals.
He's urging anyone who's already received two doses of the vaccine to get their booster, especially because there is the local supply to meet the demand.
"We got confirmation last night, we have the supplies coming in. Book your appointment, bottom line, search it out. If you go on the WeVax site be advised to keep looking at it, so even though people are booking out to the end of December now, look because we're adding more slots on a daily basis pretty much."
Musyj says they will try to put the messages out when and where appointments are available, but is also encouraging people to reach out to their local pharmacies or primary care practitioners as well.
Anyone who was already eligible for boosters at a longer dose interval can now move appointments up to three months since their second dose, as of Wednesday.
- with files from AM800's The Morning Drive