COVID-19 hotspots should get larger allotment of vaccines, Mississauga mayor says

Mississauga’s mayor says COVID-19 hotspots like Peel Region and Toronto should get a larger allotment of vaccines.

Bonnie Crombie made the remarks during her weekly update Wednesday afternoon.

“I really, truly believe that you have to deal with it at the source, and if we have the highest density here and … the risk of transmission is so much greater in Peel Region and in Toronto, then it only makes sense that we get a greater allotment of the vaccine,” Crombie said.

She said she is disappointed that the province’s AstraZeneca pilot project, which saw vaccines distributed to pharmacies in Toronto, Windsor-Essex, and the Kingston area, does not include Peel Region.

“We saw regions like Windsor-Essex and Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington receive huge shipments, yet both regions are not even in lockdown,” Crombie said.

“In fact, Kingston is in the green zone right now.”

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Crombie said she is committed to “ensuring Mississauga receives its fair share of vaccines.”

“I am urging the province that Mississauga and all of Peel receive vaccines proportional to our need and that we are included in any future pilot project that will result in regions getting additional doses,” she said.

To date, close to 80,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Peel Region, Crombie said.

As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, 1,301,334 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Ontario.