Ontario marks COVID-19 death-toll milestone

Ontario marked a grim COVID-19 milestone Thursday as its virus-related death toll passed 8,000.

There were 41 new virus-related deaths to bring the provincial total to 8,029. Health Minister Christine Elliott said the way out of the pandemic is vaccinations.

“The light at the end of the tunnel grows brighter every day,” she said as the province reported another 3,871 infections. 

Ontario is forecasting everyone over the age of 18 will be able to book a shot by May 24. The province planned to lower the age eligibility for mass vaccination clinics to 55 and older starting Friday.

Regions are preparing to receive much larger volumes of vaccines.

Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the officer overseeing vaccine deliver for the Public Health Agency of Canada, said Pfizer-BioNTech’s shipments are to double next week to more than two million doses.

Johnson & Johnson’s first delivery of 300,000 doses landed in Canada on Wednesday. 

Moderna, which is still struggling with production, intends to send one million doses that will be distributed to provinces in two weeks, Fortin said.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press