Medical conditions
Only book an appointment under this category if you meet the eligibility. If you are unsure about your eligibility, check with your Health Care Provider.
Some patients qualify for early vaccination based on select complex medical conditions.
People 12 years of age and over with at least one of the following conditions listed below are eligible for vaccination through a Regional Health Authority.
(Booking of an appointment and consent for vaccination of children under the age of 16 must be made for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and must be completed by a parent or guardian):
- people with specific cancers and/or undergoing:
- active chemotherapy;
- radical radiotherapy for lung cancer;
- cancers of the blood and bone marrow including transplants;
- immunotherapy/antibody treatments;
- targeted cancer treatments (protein kinase or PARP inhibitors)
- people with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), homozygous sickle cell disease, AIDS;
- people with significant problems with the spleen, or splenectomy;
- solid organ transplant recipients (heart, liver, kidney, lung);
- people on dialysis or with Stage-5 chronic kidney disease
- people with Down syndrome
- pregnancy
- people with severe respiratory conditions, including:
- pulmonary fibrosis,
- cystic fibrosis,
- interstitial lung disease,
- bronchiectasis,
- on systemic steroids,
- people with respiratory or neuromuscular conditions requiring respiratory support
- ventilation
- home oxygen
- people, as directed by their primary health care provider, due to exceptional cases of:
- severe and profound intellectual/developmental disability
- severe mental illness (schizophrenia, Bipolar, Severe Functional impairment)
Before booking an appointment, please ensure that you meet the eligibility requirements.
(Before registering, you must review the list of complex medical above. At the time of your appointment you must present this signed declaration. (If you do not have access to a printer or cannot print the consent form, a form will be available at the appointment. You must complete the form before you can receive a vaccine.)
Anyone self-identifying should be prepared to provide documentation, for example: the name of their Primary care provider, chronic care clinic they attend, prescriptions, upcoming appointments or other supporting information for selected chronic conditions.
***Only book an appointment under this category if you meet the eligibility. If you are unsure about your eligibility, check with your Health Care Provider ***
Some patients qualify for early vaccination based on chronic conditions. Unless otherwise noted, individuals aged 12 and older with conditions under at least two of the numbered categories below are eligible for vaccination through a Regional Health Authority.
(Booking of an appointment and consent for vaccination of children under the age of 16 must be made for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and must be completed by a parent or guardian):
1. Heart Disease
- High blood pressure/hypertension (prescribed medication)
- Heart attack/Angina
- Congestive heart failure (fluid around the heart)
- Cardiomyopathy (problems with the heart muscle)
- Arrythmias (abnormal heart rhythms)
- Heart valve disease or surgery
- Congenital heart disease
- Any heart surgery
2. Stroke
3. Chronic Neurologic Disease
- Dementia/Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Huntington’s disease
- Ataxias
- Cerebral palsy
- Epilepsy/seizures
- Spinal cord injury/paraplegia/quadriplegia
- Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), myasthenia gravis
- Guillain-Barre syndrome
- Multiple sclerosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Pervasive developmental disorder, severe brain injury that results in difficulty following public health measures
4. Chronic Respiratory Disease *
- Asthma (requiring regular use of medication/puffers)
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder/chronic bronchitis/emphysema
- Occupational lung diseases
- Pulmonary hypertension
*Note that severe respiratory conditions such as cystic fibrosis, pulmonary fibrosis, interstitial lung disease, bronchiectasis, requiring systemic steroids, home ventilation/oxygen qualify for early vaccine regardless of the presence of other medical conditions
5. Diabetes Mellitus
- medication or insulin controlled
6. Chronic Kidney Disease
- Glomerular diseases
- Polycystic kidney disease
- stage 3- 5 chronic kidney disease
7. Chronic Liver Disease
- Chronic viral hepatitis
- Autoimmune hepatitis
- Primary biliary cholangitis
- Primary sclerosing cholangitis
- Hemochromatosis
- Wilson's disease
- Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
- Liver fibrosis/cirrhosis
8. Morbid Obesity – BMI 40 or more
9. HIV infection
- On medication for same
10. On immunosuppression therapies (not dose-dependent)
*Note that more severe immunocompromising conditions including chemotherapy, solid organ transplant, blood or bone marrow transplant, congenital immune deficiencies qualify for early vaccine regardless of the presence of other medical conditions
Only call or book an appointment under this category if you meet the eligibility.
Before registering, you must review the list of chronic conditions above and ensure that you have at least three. At the time of your appointment you must present this signed declaration. (If you do not have access to a printer or cannot print the consent form, a form will be available at the appointment. You must complete the form before you can receive a vaccine.)
Anyone self-identifying should be prepared to provide documentation, for example: the name of their Primary care provider, chronic care clinic they attend, prescriptions, upcoming appointments or other supporting information for selected chronic conditions.