Ottawa mayor, Health Minister spar over city's COVID-19 vaccine allocation
Disagreements over the quantity of COVID-19 vaccines sent to Ottawa have devolved into a war of words between the city’s mayor and the Ontario government.
Tuesday evening, a spokesperson for Health Minister Christine Elliott wrote “as of end of day Sunday, June 13, Ottawa Public Health had 20,388 doses of Pfizer and 3,180 doses of Moderna in freezers. This is in addition to the 53,820 doses of Pfizer delivered yesterday.”
Mayor Watson was quick to respond, tweeting “we are required to keep one to two day supply in freezers so when our supply is one to two days late from the province we don’t have to cancel thousands of appointments!"
Watson wrote to the premier June 7, asking for an emergency shipment for 40,000 additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines to meet the demand for accelerated second shots. The province had just allowed anyone 70 and older, as well as anyone who had received a first dose of a vaccine on or before April 18 to book an earlier second dose, which city staff had said would require tens of thousands of doses to provide on top of the appointments already booked for June. Many residents reported difficulty in booking earlier shots due to a lack of available appointments.
Health Minister Christine Elliott wrote back to Watson to say that while Ottawa's shipments from the province have been close to the provincial per capital allocation rate, the city has received additional vaccines at times.
"The province manages a small percentage of vaccines to support regions to respond to emerging issues. Ottawa has received an additional 37,760 doses from this allocation, over and above their per capita allocation, since early May," Elliott said.
"Ottawa is set to receive 53,820 Pfizer doses per week over the next month for health unit and hospital partners, with an additional 13,000 weekly Pfizer doses through the pharmacies. Additional allocations of Moderna will also be distributed as we expect that the federal government will provide Ontario with over two million doses of the Moderna vaccines before the end of June."
But speaking with Patricia Boal on the CTV News at Six on Monday evening, Watson said, when he spoke with the premier and the solicitor general Monday morning, he was asked to explain how the city would make use of the extra doses.
"We will send (Ford) a one-pager on how we can use those 40,000 doses that we asked for and get them into arms as quickly as possible and he said he will fight for us, so we'll hold him at his word."
Elliott's letter noted that municipal public health units are responsible for managing and overseeing the administration of vaccines in alignment with the province's immunization plan.
Watson said he wants the province to consider the demands placed on municipalities when they make changes to eligibility requirements.
"We pleaded with them, please don't make these decisions in isolation," Watson said.
According to data from Ottawa Public Health, 98 per cent of the city's vaccine inventory had been administered as of Sunday, but data on how many doses pharmacies have is unavailable.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.