Province rejects calls to prioritize Mississauga and Brampton hotspots during next phase of vaccine rollout

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Published June 4, 2021 at 9:35 pm

vaccine

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott has rejected calls to prioritize Mississauga and Brampton hotspots when it comes to speeding up the second dose rollout.

Elliott said plans moving forward that are geared to getting the needle into the arms of more people faster will be done province-wide, and not target hotspots.

For the past several months Peel Region has been receiving a large percentage of all vaccine available in Ontario as neighbourhoods in Brampton and Mississauga have some of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the country.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie and Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown both made public appeals to the Provincial government this week asking that current vaccinations levels be maintained to combat the spread of the virus in hotspots.

Peel Region’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Lawrence Loh said Mississauga and Brampton hotspots need the vaccine because Peel has highest rate of the Delta variant (the one that originated in India) in Ontario and has become the most dominant strain of COVID-19 in the province.

However, officials at Queen’s Park believe other parts of the province now need to be attended to and that an equitable distribution plan will better control the spread of the virus.

 

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