"Incompetence" causing lack of clarity on COVID-19 vaccine delivery date: Ford

Premier Doug Ford believes “incompetence” and “dishonesty” are the reasons for the lack of clarity on the COVID-19 vaccine delivery date.

When asked by a reporter at Monday’s press conference if he feels more at ease regarding the vaccine situation, the premier said he doesn’t.

“I have to get answers. I’ve been asking the federal government. We need to know when we’re getting it, how much we’re getting, and what we’re getting. There’s different vaccines out there.”

Ford added that he looks at the situation from a business perspective.

“When you place an order for hundreds of millions of dollars and you aren’t getting answers either – and I’m not accusing anyone of this – something is going on… someone’s not being honest or their is incompetence or maybe both, and I’m not too sure,” he said.

“And I’m not accusing anyone – the federal government or the pharmaceutical companies – but the clock is ticking. Everyone is spending hundreds of millions of dollars and you can’t give me a delivery date? It’s unacceptable.”

The premier said that he has a call with Pfizer on Monday afternoon and will ask the CEO when Ontario can expect their “fair share,” but he noted the decision goes through the federal government.

“To be perfectly frank, I’m not any more comfortable than I was last week. We hear stories from around the world; I read a story that the UK might be starting their vaccines on December 7. Well, we need answers. We’ve worked collaboratively with the federal government. There’s three simple answers that we need. We can’t find out at the last minute that we’re getting vaccines tomorrow.”

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Last week, Ford said he wanted a “decisive plan” from the federal government on the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

While Canadian health officials noted that they will procure up to 194 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with the option to purchase an additional 220 million, the first three million will be available some time in the first quarter of 2021.