Ontario pilot project offers vaccine to migrant farm workers at airport
TORONTO — An Ontario pilot project offering COVID-19 vaccines to migrant farm workers got underway on Saturday at Toronto’s international airport.
Avi Yufest, spokesman for the Ontario agriculture ministry, said the program “went well” as the government offered shots to more than 200 workers landing on a morning flight from Mexico.
Officials from the ministries of health and agriculture, health-care practitioners and representatives from the Mexican Consulate were also at Pearson International Airport to meet the group, offering doses of the Moderna vaccine after the workers cleared customs.
The vaccines were administered after recipients took a mandatory COVID-19 test.
Yufest said there were “no major glitches” in the rollout.
The government has said it plans to follow up with farms to administer the second dose.
One such unit sounded a recent alarm about current vaccine supplies, raising the spectre of reduced clinic hours or even temporary shutdowns in the coming days.
York Region Chairman Wayne Emmerson outlined his concerns in a Friday letter to Health minister Christine Elliott, saying a scarcity of Moderna shots leaves the region unable to sustain its current pace of immunizations.
“Given this acute need for our clinics to continue vaccinating prioritized groups, we appeal both to you Minister, and to all our York Region MPPs, for your assistance to acquire any vaccines that can be directed to York Region before next week,”
the letter read.
The Ministry of Health did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Vaccination efforts continued elsewhere, however, with some high-profile politicians getting in on the action.
Toronto Mayor John Tory received his first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at a downtown pharmacy on Saturday.
“I’m completely confident taking it as it’s been taken by millions of people around the world,” Tory said.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford received his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday, saying he wanted to get the shot in front of media to help combat vaccine hesitancy.
Meanwhile, Ontario reported 3,813 new cases of COVID-19
on Saturday and 19 additional deaths associated with the virus.
Government figures showed 1,524 patients currently in Ontario hospitals due to COVID-19, with 585 in intensive care and 384 on a ventilator.
Those figures were released hours after the province issued a pair of emergency orders intended to address a major influx of COVID-19 patients requiring hospital care.
They include a directive allowing hospitals to transfer patients to other facilities without their consent, as well as one granting the province power to redeploy dozens of workers from home-care organizations to hospitals during a surge.
Hospitals will begin scaling back elective surgeries as of Monday to try to keep pace with COVID-19-related demands.