Province Planning to Vaccinate 8.5 Million People Starting in March

Wednesday, 13 January 2021 13:32

The Province of Ontario is planning to immunize up to 8.5 million people with phase two of the Governments vaccine implementation plan.

ONTARIO - The Province of Ontario is planning to immunize up to 8.5 million people with phase two of the Governments vaccine implementation plan.

Premier Doug Ford says they're ready to expand the vaccine rollout, as soon as they get the supplies.

"With Phase One of our plan well underway, we're getting ready to expand our vaccine rollout and get more needles into arms as soon as the supply is available. We now have a well-oiled machine, led by General Hillier, and we are making tremendous progress. We know this second phase will be an even larger logistical undertaking than the first. That's why we're ramping up our capacity on the ground to ensure these vaccines are administered quickly, beginning with the people who need them most."

Phase one will see about 1.5 million people vaccinated, including all staff and residents at long-term care homes in the four hardest hit areas, Toronto, Peel, York and Windsor-Essex.

The earliest people will get vaccinated in phase 2 is March of this year. The vaccines will be distributed to eligible groups as follows:

- Older adults, beginning with those 80 years of age and older and decreasing in five-year increments over the course of the vaccine rollout;
- Individuals living and working in high-risk congregate settings;
- Frontline essential workers (e.g., first responders, teachers, food processing industry); and
- Individuals with high-risk chronic conditions and their caregivers.

The Premier also talked about the stay at home orders that will start on Thursday. Ford says everyone will need to stay home, it's the law.

"You must, I'm going to repeat that, you must stay home, it's the law and it will be enforced. I know that essential, means different things to different people. We have 15 million people in Ontario, each with their own individual circumstances. If you are not sure, if a trip is absolutely essential, it probably isn't."

You can listen to the Premiers full comments from this morning below: