Who is eligible

• Staff, essential caregivers and any residents that have not yet received a first dose in:
  • long-term care homes
  • high-risk retirement homes
  • First Nations elder care homes
• Alternative level of care patients in hospitals who have a confirmed admission to a long-term care home, retirement home or other congregate care home for seniors
• Health care workers identified as highest priority, followed by very high priority, in the Ministry of Health’s guidance on Health Care Worker Prioritization (PDF)
• Indigenous adults in northern remote and higher risk communities (on-reserve and urban)
• Adults ages 80 and older
• Staff, residents and caregivers in retirement homes and other congregate care settings for seniors (for example, assisted living)
• Health care workers identified as the high priority level in the Ministry of Health’s guidance on Health Care Worker Prioritization (PDF)
• Indigenous adults
• Adult recipients of chronic home care

Who is eligible

Older adults

• Adults aged 60 to 79, starting with those 75 to 79 and decreasing in five-year increments
• Those turning 55 or older in 2021 are eligible for vaccination at participating pharmacies and primary care settings

Public health units determine age-based eligibility for their own community’s needs. This means eligible age groups may differ between regions.

Adults living in COVID-19covid 19 hot spot communities

People in hot spot communities, including:

• adults ages 50 and older (starting with older individuals and decreasing in age)
• people ages 18 or over in targeted high-risk settings as supply allows, including:
  • high-risk congregate settings
  • community centres
  • residential buildings
  • faith-based locations
  • locations occupied by large employers
• select education staff, starting with those who provide direct support to students with complex special education needs and educators in hot spot postal codes in Toronto and Peel
• Black and other racialized communities

People who live and work in high-risk congregate settings

• Supportive housing
• Developmental services or intervenor and supported independent living
• Emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness
• People experiencing homelessness not in shelters
• Mental health and addictions congregate settings (for example, supportive housing, hospital psychiatric patients)
• Homes for special care
• Employer-provided living accommodations for temporary foreign agricultural workers
• Adult correctional facilities
• Violence against women (VAW) shelters and anti-human trafficking (AHT) residents
• Children’s residential facilities
• Youth justice facilities
• Indigenous healing and wellness facilities
• Bail beds and Indigenous bail beds
• Provincial and demonstration schools

Caregivers in select congregate care settings

• Developmental services
• Mental health and addictions congregate settings
• Homes for special care
• Children’s residential facilities
• Indigenous healing and wellness facilities

Individuals with health conditions and their caregivers

Highest risk

• Organ transplant recipients
• Hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients
• People with neurological diseases in which respiratory function may be compromised (for example, motor neuron disease, myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis)
• Haematological malignancy diagnosed within the last year
• Kidney disease with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) under 30
• One essential caregiver for above individuals

Vaccination for individuals in this group will take place:

• mainly at hospital clinics
• where the individuals receive their regular treatment, if possible

If you are in this group, your health care provider (for example, your family doctor or specialist) will contact you to book an appointment, when vaccine supply is available.

High risk

• Obesity (BMI over 40)
• Other treatments causing immunosuppression (for example, chemotherapy, immunity-weakening medications)
• Intellectual or developmental disabilities (for example, Down Syndrome)
• One essential caregiver for those individuals who require regular and sustained assistance with personal care and/or activities of daily living

Vaccination for individuals in this group will take place:

• mobile teams
• primary care settings (for example, doctors’ offices)

If you are in this group, your health care provider (for example, your family doctor or specialist) will contact you to book an appointment, when vaccine supply is available.

At risk

• Immune deficiencies and autoimmune disorders
• Stroke and cerebrovascular disease
• Dementia
• Diabetes
• Liver disease
• All other cancers
• Respiratory diseases, such as asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, pleurisy
• Spleen problems, such as asplenia
• Heart disease
• Hypertension with end organ damage
• Diagnosed mental disorder
• Substance use disorders
• Sickle cell disease
• Thalassemia
• Pregnancy
• Immunocompromising health conditions
• Other disabilities requiring direct support care in the community

Vaccination for individuals in this group will take place:

• mass immunization clinics (primarily for patients falling within the age bands)
• hospital clinics
• mobile teams
• primary care settings

If you are in this group, your health care provider (for example, your family doctor or specialist) will contact you to book an appointment when supply is available, or you can book online using the province’s online booking system when vaccines are available to your age group.

This list is not exhaustive – health care practitioners will use their best medical judgement to vaccinate patients with health conditions not listed (such as rare diseases) that may put them at similar or greater risk to the listed conditions.

Essential frontline workers who cannot work from home

First group

• Elementary and secondary school workers (including educators, custodial, school bus drivers, administrative staff)
• Workers responding to critical events (including police, fire, special constables, children’s aid society workers, emergency management, critical infrastructure restoration workers)
• Enforcement, inspection and compliance roles (including by-law enforcement, building inspectors, food inspectors, animal welfare inspectors, border inspection officers, labour inspectors, WSIB field workers)
• Individuals working in childcare (including all licensees, employees and students on educational placements who interact directly with children in licensed childcare centres and in authorized recreation and skill building programs, licensed home child care and in-home service providers, employees of home child care agencies)
• Foster care agenda workers (including customary care providers)
• Food manufacturing and distribution workers
• Agriculture and farm workers
• Funeral, crematorium and cemetery workers

Second group

• Essential and critical retail workers (including grocery, foodbank, pharmacy, ServiceOntario, ServiceCanada, Passport Canada, wholesalers and general goods, restaurant, LCBO workers)
• Workers in manufacturing industries directly involved in supporting the COVID-19covid 19 response, construction (including infrastructure) and other essential businesses and services where facilities are at heightened risk for COVID-19covid 19 outbreaks and spread
• Social workers and social services staff who provide in-person client services (including youth justice workers, Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program case workers)
• Courts and justice system workers (including probation and parole workers)
• Transportation, warehousing and distribution workers (including public transit workers, truck drivers supporting essential services, marine and rail cargo and maintenance, highway maintenance)
• Electricity (including system operations, generation, transmission, distribution and storage workers)
• Communications infrastructure workers (including cellular, satellite, landline, internet, public safety radio)
• Water and wastewater management workers
• Financial services workers (bank branch staff)
• Veterinarians and veterinary teams
• Waste management workers
• Oil and petroleum workers (including petroleum refineries, crude oil and petroleum storage, transmission and distribution, retail sale of fuel)
• Natural gas and propane gas workers (including compression, storage, transmission and distribution of natural gas and propane)
• Mine workers (including those needed to ensure the continued operation of active mines)
• Uranium processing workers (those working in the refining and conversion of uranium and fabrication of fuel for nuclear power plants)

Who will be vaccinated

• Remaining Ontarians ages 16 and older who wish to be vaccinated