Ontario government ‘regrets’ error that led to false claim of COVID-19 vaccinations in LTC homes

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story written by Global News contained details released by the Ontario government claiming all long-term care residents were offered at least one of the two doses. This story has been updated with a correction issued by the government.

Ontario’s minister of long-term care is apologizing for an earlier statement that claimed all residents in the province’s long-term care homes had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The province had promised to achieve that goal by Feb. 10, and this morning Long-term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton said in a statement that the goal had been met.

But a spokeswoman for Fullerton issued a statement this afternoon that says residents in a few long-term care homes have yet to receive the first dose of the vaccine.

Krystle Caputo says “ a miscommunication” was to blame for the error, which the government ‘regrets.“

She says the government expects the outstanding homes will be finished in the coming days.

The Ministry of Long-Term Care said earlier today that more than 62,000 residents had received the first dose of the vaccine, and more than 34,000 of them had received their second dose.

The provincial government said it would maintain the recommended interval of 21-27 days for residents who received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Meanwhile, Ontario reported 945 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, although public health officials said that number was underreported.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said there are 258 new cases in Peel Region, 116 in York Region, and 112 in Toronto.

A spokeswoman for the ministry said that as Toronto continues to migrate its case counts to the provincial database, Ontario’s daily tally is underreported.