More than 44,000 Ottawa residents have booked appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations

OTTAWA -- More than 44,000 Ottawa residents have booked an appointment to get the COVID-19 vaccination since the Ontario government opened its online booking system two weeks ago.

In a memo to Council, emergency and protective services general manager Anthony Di Monte provided an update on the COVID-19 vaccination rollout. Mayor Jim Watson shared the memo on Twitter.

The memo states more than 118,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ottawa. The city has received 133,440 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines since Dec. 14.

Ontario launched the online booking system for residents over the age of 80 on March 15. Last Monday, Ontario expanded the eligibility to residents over the age of 75.

As of Friday, over 44,000 residents have booked their vaccines at a community clinic in Ottawa through the booking system.

Several residents told CTV News Ottawa they tried to book their first and second appointments when Ontario expanded eligibility to people aged 75 and older, but were unable to progress through the online form because there was no way to book a second appointment. There were also issues the week of March 15 with the online booking portal double-booking appointments at Ottawa clinics.

"The problems appear to be resolved," said Mayor Jim Watson during an interview with Newstalk 580 CFRA's Kristy Cameron on Friday.

"As you know, with computer systems there's always glitches. But we're vaccinating tens of thousands of people which is the good thing and we believe the provincial system is working properly."

Starting March 29, the city will launch rural pop-up clinics for residents aged 75 and older and adult recipients of chronic home care.  The clinics will be set up in West Carleton-March, Cumberland, Osgoode and Rideau-Goulbourn. Eligible residents can call 613-691-5505 to book an appointment in the designated rural communities.

CTV News Ottawa has learned Ottawa pharmacies will be included in the next round of pharmacies administering the COVID-19 vaccine when Ontario receives a shipment of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the United States. Canada is expecting to receive 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine soon.