OTTAWA -- With the city preparing for bookings to open to all adults on Tuesday, Ottawa Public Health says administration of Pfizer vaccines to Ottawa residents is at its highest level so far during the pandemic.

According to OPH's COVID-19 vaccination dashboard, 49,176 doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered to Ottawans last week, marking a slight increase over 48,983 shots administered the week prior.

The number of shots being delivered into arms in the capital is down from a peak of more than 60,000 in mid-April, largely because of a significant decline in the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The province put a pause on AstraZeneca for first doses early last week, amid fears of rising rates of rare and dangerous blood clots. Health officials said the clots were still exceedingly rare, with eight reported province-wide, but the rate at which they were reported was higher than initially believed. 

AstraZeneca doses were mostly in the hands of pharmacies and primary care clinics in Ontario. 

The city's vaccine rollout now largely uses the Pfizer vaccine. Last week, 42,243 doses of the vaccine were administered to residents, up from 35,396 the week prior. There were also 5,832 Moderna doses and 1,101 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine administered last week.

On Monday, OPH reported that the city received a new shipment of 44,460 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Of the 483,190 doses of all vaccines sent to the city and its hospital partners, 87 per cent have been administered.

Ontario is opening vaccine appointments through its provincial portal to all residents 18 and older starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday. With such a large cohort becoming eligible at once,Ottawa's board of health chair, councillor Keith Egli, says people should be patient.

"You'll be eligible to book but as we've always done from the beginning of this, we will load on appointments as supply becomes available," Egli told guest host Graham Richardson on Newstalk 580 CFRA's "Ottawa at Work with Leslie Roberts" on Monday morning.

"Not everybody tomorrow is likely to get an appointment but they will continue to fill in. As supply comes, we'll open up those windows of vaccine appointments and just continue on in that manner."

Egli told CTV News Ottawa that more than 220,000 residents will become eligible for vaccines Tuesday morning.

QUICK STATS

  • Ottawa residents with at least one dose: 438,718
  • Ottawa residents with two doses: 30,360
  • Percent of eligible population (residents 18 and older) with at least one dose: 51 per cent
  • Percent of eligible population (residents 18 and older) with two doses: 4 per cent
  • Percent of total population with at least one dose: 42 per cent
  • Percent of total population with two doses: 3 per cent

VACCINATION COVERAGE BY AGE FOR OTTAWA RESIDENTS WITH AT LEAST ONE DOSE

  • 12-17: 2.9 per cent (1,949 people)
  • 18-29: 19.2 per cent (35,883 people)
  • 30-39: 24.5 per cent (38,849 people)
  • 40-49: 42.9 per cent (57,894 people)
  • 50-59: 68.7 per cent (95,991 people)
  • 60-69: 83.2 per cent (98,943 people)
  • 70-79: 90.0 per cent (68,171 people)
  • 80 and older: 91.0 per cent (38,562 people)
  • Unknown age: 2,476 people