Horwath calls for more, faster second doses in hotspots

QUEEN’S PARK — Official Opposition leader Andrea Horwath responded to the Ford government's vaccine rollout announcement Thursday, saying Ontario needs to get second doses to everyone in a hotspot now, and consider expert advice to bump up AstraZeneca second doses, in order to stop the spread of variants and try to guarantee that the third wave will be Ontario’s last.

"Doug Ford marched Ontario right into the third wave. Let’s not risk him doing that again.

In hotspots, families, essential workers, and seniors — many of them racialized and low-income — have been disproportionately hit hard by COVID-19. With the rising Delta strain, they shouldn’t have to wait, hunt and compete for limited vaccine opportunities. And when we douse the COVID flames in hotspots, the whole province benefits from stopping the spread.

Folks who did the right thing and got their first AstraZeneca shot are anxious to receive their second — the Ford government shouldn’t be leaving them behind when the experts say there’s a better way.

I’m calling for Ontario to increase the supply of vaccines to hotspots, offer second doses to everyone in a hotspot now, and consider expert advice to shorten the interval between AstraZeneca doses. We can stop the spread of the Delta variant, and make the third wave our last.”