SAULT STE. MARIE -- Timmins, North Bay and Sudbury have all lowered their COVID-19 vaccination eligibility, to at least 50 and older, but the same can't be said for the Sault.
Despite the province lowering its age limit to 50 and older, Algoma Public Health will keep its age limit at 60 and older for now.
"Looking at the age of our population, we still want to make sure that we're giving opportunity to our aging groups," said Roylen Bowden, manager of immunization at Algoma Public Health. "We'll get in a few appointments, a few clinics to see where we are with that group, and then do our evaluation to see when we're going to move forward."
Algoma Public Health announced it would be booking 2,700 new appointments at the Sault's vaccination hub Friday, expanding the total number of people allowed to get the vaccine.
But the health unit said demand for vaccines continue to exceed the supply that has been allocated to the region.
It also doesn't help that it started nearly two months later than other regions in the province.
"There was already that two-month interval, right, so if you look at where we are for when we started, I think everything is really in perspective and we're in a great place," said Bowden. "We're actually vaccinating at a rate around 33 per cent, which is in line with what the province is doing."
Bookings for new vaccination appointments will begin on Monday, said Bowden, and will be held May 28-29.
