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Born in 1981 or before? Roll up your sleeve. It's your turn

More than 30 London, Ont., pharmacies will be offering the AstraZeneca vaccine to people ages 40 and up beginning Tuesday. The pharmacies had previously been limited to ages 55 and over.

Select pharmacies now offering the AstraZeneca vaccine to age 40 and up

Rebecca Zandbergen · CBC News ·
Ontario is making the AstraZeneca vaccine available to people 40 and up at select pharmacies. (Bob Edme/The Associated Press)

More than 30 London, Ont., pharmacies began offering AstraZeneca vaccinations Tuesday to people ages 40 and up, after iniitally limiting shots against COVID-19 to people 55 and older.

The province announced the change on Sunday based on the current supply of the vaccine. Pharmacists had warned they had doses sitting idle because of the age restrictions. 

Medpoint Care Pharmacy on Wellington Street in downtown London received its first shipment of AstraZeneca last Friday, said lead pharmacist Nauman Shaikh. 

"We got 200 doses, which is a decent amount to start off with," he said.

All of those doses have already been spoken for, he added.

"As of Saturday, we will use all of our 200. But I'm pretty sure that as we go through the week and by Wednesday or Thursday, when an actual inventory drops below, we'll get more shipments." 

Eight pharmacies in St. Thomas, Ont., are now delivering the AstraZeneca vaccine to people born in 1981 and earlier, including Yurek Pharmacy, which for more than a week has already been vaccinating people 55 and up.

"We've had tremendous support from the community," said manager Steve Bond, who praised his staff for working so effectively to administer the doses. "So far, we're close to 800 vaccinations in the last nine days, so it's been absolutely fantastic."

Steve Bond is the pharmacy manager at Yurek Pharmacy, in St. Thomas, which has been vaccinating some 100 people a day. (Submitted by Steve Bond)

Bond said the pharmacy is booking appointments just one or two days in advance as it's unclear when it will receive it's next shipment of the vaccine.

"We're getting low on the doses we have," he said. "Right now there hasn't been a clear instruction to us as for a consistent supply. We are optimistic and we will keep administering doses as long as we have them."

So far, the pharmacy has received two 300-dose shipments through wholesaler McKesson Corporation. It received a third shipment through the local health unit.

"Whenever we get the direction from our wholesaler who gets it directly from the [Ontario Ministry of Health], we will order the maximum amount because we have a huge demand in this area," said Bond.

"It's interesting to see how as a world we kind of came together to develop these vaccines. And on a micro level at our site, we see that our staff are 100 per cent behind it and just geared up, ready to go. So it's really fantastic to see."

Anyone who qualifies for the shot can call or visit the website of the pharmacy listed on the provincial database.

Here's a list of area pharmacies with plans to administer the vaccine:

London

  • Bellwood Pharmacy, 900 Oxford Street E.
  • Costco Pharmacy, 4313 Wellington Road S.
  • Costco Pharmacy, 693 Wonderland Road N.
  • Coulter's Guardian Pharmacy, 1709 Dundas Street.
  • Dini IDA Pharmacy, 785 Wonderland Road S.
  • Drug Store Pharmacy, 7 Baseline Road E.
  • Drugstore Pharmacy, 599 Fanshawe Park Road W.
  • Loblaw Pharmacy, 3040 Wonderland Road S.
  • Loblaw Pharmacy, 635 Southdale Road E.
  • Medpoint Care Pharmacy, 355 Wellington Street.
  • Real Canadian Superstore, 825 Oxford Street E.
  • Rexall, 1505 Highbury Avenue N.
  • Rexall, 1795 Ernest Avenue.
  • Rexall, 1375 Beaverbrook Avenue.
  • Rexall, 1593 Adelaide Street N.
  • Rexall, 740 Hyde Park Road.
  • Rexall, 1240 Commissioners Road W.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 759 Adelaide Street N.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 301 Oxford Street W.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 467 Wharncliffe Road S.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 142 Clarke Road.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 1105 Wellington Road.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 431 Richmond Street.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 1186 Oxford Street W.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 1680 Richmond Street N.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 1365 Huron Street.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 510 Hamilton Road.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 1657 Dundas Street E.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 1224 Commissioners Road W.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 1118 Adelaide Street N.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 603 Fanshawe Park Road W.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 3090 Colonel Talbot Road.
  • TMC Pharmacy, 990 Gainsborough Road.
  • Wal-Mart Pharmacy, 1105 Wellington Road S.
  • Wal-Mart Pharmacy, 1280 Fanshawe Park Road W.
  • Wal-Mart Pharmacy, 330 Clarke Road.

Woodstock

  • Lakeview Pharmacy, 805 Vansittart Avenue.
  • Rexall, 379 Springbank Avenue N.
  • Rexall, 706 Dundas Street.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 959 Dundas Street E.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 333 Dundas Street.
  • Zehrs Pharmacy, 969 Dundas Street.

St. Thomas

  • Health Centre Pharmacy, 230 First Avenue.
  • Pharmasave Elgin Mall, 417 Wellington Street.
  • Real Canadian Superstore, 1063 Talbot Street.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 410 Talbot Street.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 204 First Avenue.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 107 Edward Street.
  • Wal-Mart Pharmacy, 1063 Talbot Street.
  • Yurek Pharmacy Ltd., 519 Talbot Street.

Strathroy

  • Bossons Pharmacy, 35 Front Street W.
  • Loblaw Pharmacy, 626 Victoria Street.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart, 78 Front Street E.
  • Wal-Mart Pharmacy, 150 Carroll Street E.

At total of 1,407 pharmacy locations across Ontario are offering vaccinations. As more pharmacies sign on, the provincial database will be updated for appointment bookings.

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