Ford tours new vaccine clinic as Ontario ramps up boosters to meet 300K doses per day goal
Ontario Premier Doug Ford toured a new mass vaccination clinic on Christmas Eve working to accelerate boosters in the fight against the Omicron variant.
The International Centre in Mississauga is able to handle administering 19,000 doses a day and is open seven days a week.
Ford said the province is ramping up the number of shots with the hope of reaching a goal of 300,000 doses a day. On Dec. 22, the province said 253, 000 doses were administered.
“I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays, and we’re going to get through this. So God bless everyone,” said Ford from inside the clinic.
Most slots at the clinic are to accommodate appointment bookings, but there are a limited number of walk-in spaces available, which led to a long line of people outside the centre for hours.
“Chaotic, but I think we all need to be patient, just be lucky we have them here and have access to them,” said Ajet Grober, who arrived to wait at 7 a.m.
Some people in line complained about being cold and suggested there be a proper place to warm up.
Many in line said they first went online for a booking but decided to try their chances and get the shot earlier.
“I just wanted to get something quicker. I have an appointment which is like way far away but I just wanted to make sure I can get something faster as things are getting worse by the hour,” Sue Kohli said.
As cases skyrocket in Ontario, more than 9,500 on Friday, many are feeling the urgency for more protection.
“We just tried because we have appointments in January and February. So we’re trying to get it as soon as possible to defend the Omicron,” said Alex Chan as he was waiting in line for the booster.
While some early studies have shown the Omicron variant to be more mild that other COVID-19 variants. Experts are being very cautious about what it may mean for individuals and what may happen next in the pandemic.
“That would be amazing if this turns out to be a less virulent version of this virus. On the other hand we are seeing a huge number of reported cases and we know those numbers reported are a huge underestimate,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist in Toronto.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.