Ontario Premier Doug Ford aimed a colourful outburst at the federal government Friday, calling the COVID-19 vaccine procurement and delivery process a “joke,” after learning another shipment of vaccines would be delayed.
The federal government says a shipment of 600,000 Moderna coronavirus vaccine doses due this week will instead be delivered next week, due to a “quality assurance issue” with the manufacturer.
“(It’s)the third time now is delayed we're getting in sometime next week, the AstraZeneca, that we were supposed to get that out into the pharmacies,” Ford said. “We don't even, we don't even get a date. We don't have a clue. How can you plan?”
He said he had up until this point been “very diplomatic” and “very complimentary” of the federal effort but his patience was wearing thin.
“This is becoming a joke,” Ford said. “We just need more vaccines.”
Federal Procurement Minister Anita Anand said earlier on Friday that Canada was not being impacted by export controls by jurisdictions where the vaccines were being produced, chiefly the European Union, and said that outside of the Moderna delay all deliveries in April appear to be on schedule.
“Given the profound period of global demand for vaccines, there will continue to be bumps along the way,” she said.
But Ford continued, urging residents to call and message their federal MPs to complain about the slow rollout.
“It's a joke,” Ford said exasperated. “Fifty-fifth in the world. I'm done. Sorry… you know, it's as frustrating as anything.”
According to widely-cited statistics from Our World in Data, Canada is 37th in the world in terms of vaccine delivery, with 12 per cent of the population having received at least one dose.
In Ontario as of Friday morning, 10.4 per cent of the population has received at least one dose of an approved coronavirus vaccine.
