Premier Doug Ford got a first shot of AstraZeneca Friday and urged all eligible Ontarians to get vaccinated at their first opportunity.
“I feel fine,” Ford said. “I really encourage people not to be hesitant.”
Ontario administered 105,382 doses of vaccine Thursday, and was set to surpass three million in total at some point Friday.
The provincial strategy is to limit the potential for spread of the virus with the stay-at-home order and escalated vaccination in hotspots like key neighbourhoods in Toronto, Peel and York.
“Our goal — 40% of the population (vaccinated) in 28 days,” Ford said.
The Premier’s comment that “Ontario’s doing pretty well right now,” didn’t go over too well given the current situation, but he explained that was compared to other jurisdictions.
Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO), said the province must mobilize the thousands of available health care professionals to get vaccines out of freezers and into arms quickly.
Simplicity and speed should prevail rather than bureaucracy, she said.
The variants, including new mutations identified in Brazil, pose a dangerous risk that the public needs to recognize, she said.
“If people are not behaving then actually Doug will need to put in a curfew,” Grinspun said. “Because if not, we will drown, completely.”
