Ontario doctors, mayors call for prioritized second doses in key areas to prevent possible fourth wave

Prominent doctors and mayors in Ontario have been urging the provincial government to send more vaccines where they are most needed, in this case, specifically to Peel region.

Peel Region Mayors Bonnie Crombie and Patrick Brown (of Mississauga and Brampton respectively) went on air along with Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel's Medical Officer of Health to talk about the issue and tell the provincial government in no uncertain terms that change should happen:

The Ontario government responded the following to the mayors and medical experts in Peel Region's request to ramp up vaccinations with the following:

"Peel has already received the second-highest level of doses, second only to Toronto, and we also know that locally in Peel Region, the doses that are received can be allocated to hot-spot areas that have been identified locally."

"So, that is still happening, and so we are confident that Peel is receiving large quantities of vaccine and will be well-served in the coming weeks."

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie had the following to say about the province's two-paragraph "no" answer to their request:

Crombie mentioned that "we know that we had a winning strategy when the province sent us 50 percent of the allocation of all the province's vaccine. It enabled us to really get a kick-start and vaccinate."

"Today we're over 70 percent vaccinated of 18-plus, and it was so important to get it to the front lines where our essential workers are, in our warehouses, in our factories, in our food-processing plants."

".... What we need now is a boost, a further allocation so we can get the shots in the arms, so people can get a second dose, 18-plus, all our essential workers, including our seniors. And that will ensure that, once the province re-opens, we won't have to lock down again."

Dr. Loh also commented:

"We are seeing the  fastest growth and replacement of the previous alpha variant with the delta variant in the region of Peel; we are leading the rest of the province. And the issue is, we know that one-dose coverage is insufficient to ensure that we stay ahead of the delta variant."

"So really, this ends one of two ways, because it will end in the next few months. Either we manage to side-step a fourth wave by getting second doses out more quickly in the region of Peel, Or we have a fourth wave, which will also impact overall the province's efforts to re-open, while we steadily do this per-capital allocation up to two doses in our community."

"So, either way, we get up to two doses, it's how we want this to end."

Brown said:

"Mistakes were made during the initial vaccine rollout, where they did not focus on hot-spots."

"The analogy I've used again and again, is that if you have a fire truck, you send the truck to the house that's on fire. You don't give a single up to every house in the neighborhood. You put the fire out before it spreads."

".... The average age of an essential worker is 36, and right now, all we have permission from the province to give vaccines to are those over 70 for their second doses."

Dr. Amit Arya, a professor at McMaster University and the U of T and an expert on long term care facilities and palliative care, also supported his colleagues and the officials from Peel region, tweeting: