OTTAWA -- The City of Ottawa says bookings for COVID-19 vaccine appointments remain paused because of an issue with the provincial system.

In a statement to CTV News Ottawa Tuesday afternoon, Anthony Di Monte, the city's general manager of emergency and protective services, said staff are working to resolve the issue and, should any appointments need to be rescheduled, people will be contacted directly.

"Due to issues with the provincial booking system, all future appointment bookings have been paused until the Province can rectify the issue. The Emergency Operations Centre is working with the Province to resolve the issue and is assessing the impacts on operations," Di Monte wrote. "If any appointments need to be rescheduled or moved, clients will be contacted directly. We want to assure all residents that everyone who wants to book a vaccination appointment will have an opportunity to do so as soon as supply allows."

A spokesperson for Health Minister Christine Elliott's office told CTV News Ottawa on Monday that there were some overbookings because of the glitch.

"A clinic configuration issue was identified (Monday) morning that is allowing some individuals to book into clinics that did not have available appointments – causing an overbooking in some but not all scenarios," the statement said.

"Ottawa Public Health asked the ministry to temporarily pause clinic bookings until the issue had been resolved. We continue to work on the resolution with input from the Ottawa Public Health Unit and are working to have the issue resolved as soon as possible."

There is no timeline for when the issue is expected to be resolved.

This came the morning Ottawa residents 80 and older became eligible to reschedule their second dose COVID-19 vaccine appointment, as Ontario shortens the gap between vaccine doses to begin a two-dose summer.

With 65 per cent of adults in Ontario having received their first shot of COVID-19 vaccine, the province is accelerating the rollout of the second shot with the goal of fully vaccinating the majority of Ontarians by the end of summer.

Beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, all Ottawa adults aged 80 and older became eligible to book their second dose vaccine appointment through the provincial booking system. This applies to both those who booked their first doses through the provincial system and those who booked their first shot through Ottawa Public Health.

The city of Ottawa warned that "booking availability may be limited" due to supply of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"If you received your first dose on March 5, 6 or 7 Ottawa Public Health will contact you for guaranteed access to an appointment for June 26, 27 and 28," said the city in a media release on Friday. "These residents also have the option of booking their second dose sooner, should they be able to secure an earlier appointment at a community clinic, or through the Pharmacy channel."

As of Friday, 38,869 Ottawa residents aged 80 and older had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 9,652 residents had received both doses.

Beginning the week of June 14, adults 70 and older will be able to access the provincial booking system to book their second dose for an earlier date.

The week of June 28, individuals who received their first dose between the weeks of March 8 and April 18 will become eligible to move up their second dose appointment.

The city says individuals who already have second dose appointments will keep their original appointment if they don't re-book for an earlier shot.

Ottawa residents aged 12 and older can also still book an appointment to receive a first dose through the provincial booking system once the issues with the system have been fixed.

OTTAWA POP-UP VACCINATION CLINICS

The city of Ottawa and Ottawa Public Health will resume pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics this week in specific priority neighbourhoods.

Individuals 12 years of age and older who live in the eligible neighbourhoods will be able to receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the pop-up clinics.

Here is a look at the upcoming locations for the pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics:

May 31-June 1

  • Bayshore Shopping Centre
  • Eligible neighbourhoods: Bayshore-Belltown
  • Hours of operation: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

June 2

  • Infinity Centre – 2901 Gibford Drive
  • Eligible neighbourhoods: Ledbury-Heron Gate-Ridgemont and Hawthorne Meadows-Sheffield Glen
  • Hours of operation: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

June 3-4

  • Patro d'Ottawa – 40 Cobourg Street
  • Eligible neighbourhoods: Lowertown
  • Hours of operation: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

June 5-6

  • Regina Street Alternative School at 2599 Regina Street
  • Eligible neighborhoods: Bayshore-Belltown
  • Hours of operation: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

June 5-6

  • Ridgemont High School - 2597 Alta Vista Drive
  • Eligible neighbourhoods: Ledbury – Heron Gate – Ridgemont
  • Hours of operation: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Residents are asked to bring at least one piece of ID and proof of address must be provided. A valid Ontario Health card is preferred, but not required if you do not have one.

For more information, visit the Ottawa Public Health website.  

WHAT YOU NEED TO BOOK AN APPOINTMENT FOR A COVID-19 VACCINE

The Ontario government says when booking an appointment through the provincial online system, you will be asked for the following information:

  • Government of Ontario green photo health card
  • Birth date
  • Postal code
  • Email address or phone number

At the time of booking, eligible individuals will schedule their first and second vaccination appointments.