BREAKING: Ford says 'more extreme measures' will be considered if 'basic measures continue to be ignored'

Ford spoke on the importance of a consistent flow of vaccines, saying that all of Ontario would run out of jabs by next week's end. Ford said that he was hopeful that the federal government would deliver, but said that hospitals were at risk of canceling non-essential surgeries.

"Phase one of our vaccine plan is well underway and we're just starting down the road to getting back our normal lives, but we have a long way to go before enough vaccines arrive for everyone. Until then, the best and only defense against this terrible enemy is the public health measures," said Ford, saying Ontarians need to "hunker down and stay home."

Ford said that if basic measures continued to be ignored, the "consequences will be more dire, the shutdowns won't end at the end of January, and we will have to look at more extreme measures."

Ford added that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was "working his back off" to get the provinces a steady flow of vaccines.

"He's trying his very, very best. He really is. It's not like they have a couple million doses sitting in a freezer up in Ottawa—by no means. He understands the situation we're all in. We're in desperate need of the vaccines here," said Ford, before asking Health Canada to approve the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been approved by several health agencies worldwide.

Ford said Ontarians needed to realize the severity of the situation, calling it the "most serious situation we've ever been in since the beginning of this pandemic."