Province announces pharmacies and grocery stores will distribute free COVID-19 rapid tests to public

By Rob Paul

The Ontario Government has announced upon the easing of public health measures that free rapid testing kits for at-home use will be available to the public. 

Ontario will be distributing 5 million rapid tests each week for eight weeks through pharmacy and grocery locations across the province, as well as 500,000 each week through community partners in vulnerable communities. In total, the province is making 44 million rapid tests available to the public for free over the coming weeks.

“As we continue to carefully ease public health measures, rapid tests are providing another layer of protection and offer the public an additional tool to confidently do the things they love, like visiting family or dining at their favourite local restaurant,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “In addition to the millions of rapid tests deployed each week to support priority settings, including hospitals, long-term care homes and schools, working with our retail and community partners we are increasing access to at-home rapid tests.”

As of February 9, over 2,300 participating grocery and pharmacy locations will provide free rapid tests while supplies last, with a limit of one box of five tests per household per visit. 

“Providing expanded access to testing for Ontarians will support the province's cautious approach to easing public health measures,” said Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health. “While testing is a critical component in our response to COVID-19, vaccination remains the best defence against the virus and its variants. Over the next few months, we need to continue following the public health measures that remain in place and vaccinate those who have yet to receive their doses to protect our communities and health care system capacity.”

To help with increasing vaccine coverage in the Region, Peel Public Health hosted its first of two “Doses after Dark” clinics.

On February 5, at the Save Max Sport Centre in Brampton, residents and children over five were able to get their first, second, or third dose of the vaccine—both Pfizer and Moderna are available—and over 1,000 doses were administered during the event.

The second Doses after Dark event will run February 12 from 1 p.m. to midnight at the Rockwood Mall clinic in Mississauga. The purpose of the event is to give those who might not be available during regular 9 to 5 hours a chance to get vaccinated when it's more convenient for them. 

Vaccine coverage and third booster shots have continued to increase in Peel where 3,204,145 doses have been administered. 1,398,770 individuals have one dose, 1,255,460 have both doses, and 547,083 have received their third dose booster.

The Region now has 80.1 per cent of all residents with two dose coverage and 85.3 per cent with single dose. 90.8 per cent of those 12 and older are double vaccinated and 93.7 per cent have initiated the vaccination process—84.5 per cent of all eligible residents (5+) have both doses and 90.1 per cent have one.

In Peel, there have been 2,135 new COVID-19 cases in the last week to bring the total to 171,224.

The Region's death count has now risen to 1,151 with 42 new deaths since last week.

Caledon has seen 103 new cases over the last week to bring the Town total to 7,410. There was also one new death this week with the count rising to 26.

To book a vaccine in the Region of Peel, visit www.peelregion.ca/coronavirus/vaccine/book-appointment/. To schedule a third dose booster, visit covid19.ontariohealth.ca/. 

To download or print a copy of your proof of vaccination, visit covid-19.ontario.ca/covid-19-vaccine-booking-support#proof-of-vaccination.

To learn more about the official QR code system Ontario has implemented and to access yours, visit covid-19.ontario.ca/get-proof/.