Booster doses now available for thousands of Ottawa residents

Booster bookings open Booster bookings open to eligible Ontarians, but some say they couldn't get an appointment. CTV's Colton Praill reports.

OTTAWA — Ten months after getting her second dose, a glimmer of hope for one frontline healthcare worker.

"I’m feeling really good this morning," said Alicia Robblee, a COVID ICU nurse at the Ottawa Hospital.

Saturday the province expanded eligibility to new vulnerable populations, as long as they received their second dose at least six months ago.

Robblee booked her shot for later this month, and says she is eagerly anticipating the next dose.

"Along with most of my coworkers we’ve been 9-10 months since our second shot and a lot of people that I know really jumped at the chance to sign up first thing this morning so that we can get some extra protection," she said.

Not everyone was as successful as Robblee.

A bladder cancer survivor, 77-year-old Robert Mason spent Saturday morning trying to book a booster shot for himself and his wife, but was left disappointed.

"It took me about an hour, 45 minutes, online because it never gave me the option to allow me as an over 70 - I’m 77, my wife is 81 - to make a booking," Mason said.

Challenges with the provincial portal stalled his hopes for a booster. Mason is one of millions of Ontarians now eligible for the shot, but you need to be at least six months out from your second dose to qualify and to book an appointment.

"I was disappointed that the site wasn’t working and I couldn’t make a booking when I wanted the booking. I’m not asking for March or February, I figured a month from today is good enough time," Mason said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Ontario’s Minister of Health says the online booking portal is "working well" and asks people trying to book booster appointments further in the future to be patient.

"Public health units are responsible for adding appointments into COVAX and will continue to add new appointments over time," Alexandra Hilkene wrote.

Ottawa Public Health says appointments are currently available until November 21 and that additional dates will be added as eligibility expands.

Mason says he plans to try to book his booster again in a couple of weeks.

“For my wife and I, at our age, it’s important because we can’t afford to get sick; too many people our age have not made it and I don’t want to be in that position," he said.

The boosters come as Ontario’s case counts quickly climb. The seven-day average in the province has jumped to 426 after sitting at just 349 a week ago.

The reproductive number is also higher and for the first time since early October, the province recorded consecutive days with 500+ new cases.

"You can’t ignore it, you absolutely can’t ignore it," said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases expert.

"We’ll probably see a rise in cases, that might continue, the real question is how high is the amplitude of this wave and what are we going to do to make sure this wave is not high," he added.

Bogoch says when it comes to managing the latest wave the province needs to act quickly if it decides to do so, adding that waiting until hospitalizations rise will be too late.

"If you’re going to act you’ve got to act quickly, you can’t start changing course by the time hospitalizations start to go up," he said.

Still, healthcare workers are optimistic that boosters can stave off the worst of another fall wave.

“I really hope that people take the chance that’s given to them here to get that booster shot,” Robblee said.