Ontario plans to administer the COVID-19 vaccine in all nursing homes and high-risk retirement homes by Feb. 15.

The province says residents, workers and essential caregivers at those facilities will get the first dose of the vaccine by that date.

The plan builds on an earlier pledge to give the COVID-19 vaccine to long-term care facilities in hot spots by Jan. 21.

Rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine in Hamilton and Niagara

The government says it’s now able to move the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine safely to long-term care facilities, which has allowed it to speed up immunizations in nursing homes.

Long-term care homes have been hit hard during the pandemic, with 3,063 residents dying of COVID-19 since March.