Mass Vaccination Clinic in Hamilton to Open Monday, Ottawa to Move to Red Zone

Mass Vaccination Clinic in Hamilton to Open Monday, Ottawa to Move to Red Zone
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Jan. 12, 2021. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)
Isaac Teo
3/18/2021
Updated:
3/19/2021
Ontario announced on Thursday that the mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Hamilton will open to the public on Monday, March 22.

Situated at FirstOntario Centre, the clinic will be able to administer about 3,000 shots per day.

“We’re on our way to being able to administer 150,000 doses per day across the province,” Premier Doug Ford said. “That all depends on one thing: the supply of vaccines.”

Ford said Ontario has the capacity to administer 4.8 million doses per month, but due to the limited supply in March, only just over 1.6 million shots could be administered. He urged the federal government to provide an ample vaccine supply to Ontario.

Ford added that as of March 17, nearly 50 percent of Ontario residents aged 80 and above have received at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, the Ford government announced earlier on Thursday that Ottawa will transit from the orange zone to the red zone of the province’s COVID-19 reopening framework starting March 19 at 12:01 a.m.

The premier’s office said the latest data shows Ottawa’s COVID-19 case rate increased by 24.8 percent, to 46.8 cases per 100,000 people.

“Through discussions with the local medical officer of health and local authorities on the current situation in Ottawa, it was decided further action was needed to help ensure the continued health and safety of people in the region,” Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams said.