Highest-risk health care workers eligible for an earlier second dose of COVID-19 vaccine
Waterloo Region – Waterloo Region is now accepting requests for an earlier appointment for a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from highest-risk health care workers. These highest-risk health care workers were identified by the Province for a shortened interval between first and second doses of the vaccine.
“The Waterloo Region Vaccine Distribution Task Force is committed to balancing the priority of getting first doses in arms as quickly as possible with the priority to get second doses to those identified by the Province as being at highest risk,” said Shirley Hilton, Deputy Chief for Waterloo Region Police Service and Lead of the Waterloo Region Vaccine Distribution Task Force. “With more vaccine on the way, we’ll be increasing our capacity at our vaccination clinics in the weeks ahead.”
Anyone from the group of highest-risk health care workers who already has a second dose booked between now and June 14 (inclusive) is asked to keep their original second appointment. Those who meet the eligibility requirements and want their second dose at a shortened interval are asked to complete a form on the Region of Waterloo website: Second Dose Information - Region of Waterloo.
Depending on the volume of requests, it may take two to four weeks to be contacted about an earlier second-dose appointment.
The highest-risk health care workers who qualify for a shortened interval between first and second doses are listed below:
- All hospital and acute care staff in frontline roles with COVID-19 patients and/or with a high-risk of exposure to COVID-19, including nurses and personal support workers and those performing aerosol-generating procedures:
- Critical Care Units
- Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Departments
- All patient-facing health care workers involved in the COVID-19 response:
- COVID-19 Specimen Collection Centres (e.g., Assessment centres, community COVID-19 testing locations)
- Teams supporting outbreak response (e.g., Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) teams supporting outbreak management, inspectors in the patient environment, redeployed health care workers supporting outbreaks or staffing crisis in congregate living settings)
- COVID-19 vaccine clinics and mobile immunization teams
- Mobile Testing Teams
- COVID-19 Isolation Centres
- COVID-19 Laboratory Services
- Current members of Ontario’s Emergency Medical Assistance Team (EMAT) who may be deployed at any time to support an emergency response
- Medical First Responders
- ORNGE
- Paramedics
- Firefighters providing medical first response as part of their regular duties
- Police and special constables providing medical first response as part of their regular duties
- Community health care workers serving specialized populations including:
- Needle exchange / syringe programs and supervised consumption and treatment services
- Indigenous health care service providers including but not limited to: Aboriginal Health Access Centers, Indigenous Community Health Centres; Indigenous Inter-professional Primary Care Teams, and Indigenous Nurse Practitioner-led Clinics
- Long-term care home and retirement-home health care workers, including nurses and personal support workers and essential caregivers
- Individuals working in Community Health Centres serving disproportionally affected communities and/or communities experiencing highest burden of health, social and economic impacts from COVID-19
- Critical health care workers in remote and hard to access communities (e.g., sole practitioner)
- Home and community care health care workers, including nurses and personal support workers caring for recipients of chronic home care and seniors in congregate living facilities or providing hands-on care to COVID-19 patients in the community
-30-