Premier Doug Ford says he is "very confident" that Ontario can handle a major ramp-up of vaccinations if vaccine supplies start flowing in greater quantities soon.

“We’re very confident we'll be able to handle that moving forward, especially if we see a consistent flow of vaccines, we'll be able to gear up,” Ford told reporters at a news conference Thursday.

Ontario is poised to see a major increase in vaccine supply starting next week. Deliveries of Pfizer will more than double to around 400,000 doses a week. Moderna will also double its previous shipment to about 360,000 doses and there are indications that Canada will soon receive millions more doses of AstraZeneca.

“We can move on a dime,” Ford said when asked if the province is prepared to handle the ramp-up. 

However he said everything depends on whether the shipments remain consistent.

“The worst thing that happens is we think we're going to get some and all of a sudden the numbers change, and we have to bring everything back down. It's a massive, massive undertaking,” Ford said.

‘God Bless America’

Ford welcomed news that the United States will start allowing some doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced south of the border to flow to other countries, including Canada.

“God bless America,” Ford said. “They're coming to our rescue. Thank god. I've been bugging Trump then bugging Biden, all of them. They must get sick of Doug Ford, asking for help.”

The federal government has a purchase agreement for 20 million doses of the vaccine produced in US facilities. However so far the US administration has blocked the export of vaccines, saying that every American needs to get a dose first.

The AstraZeneca vaccine has not yet been approved for use in the United States.

The White House confirmed Thursday that it is working to allow 2.5 million doses to flow to Mexico and 1.5 million to flow to Canada as part of a “loan agreement.”  The country is estimated to have a stockpile of around 30 million doses of AstraZeneca at the moment.

There's no delivery schedule for those doses so far, but a U.S. official told Reuters that they will be flowing “shortly.”

Ford thanked U.S. President Joe Biden and praised the U.S. as “our greatest trading partner, our greatest friend in the world.”

He added he would “go down there and pick them up“ himself if need be.

Pharmacies will continue to be a part of Ontario's rollout plan

Federal officials also said Thursday that Canada is expected to receive 1 million more doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum Institute of India.

Coupled with the expected release of the AstraZeneca doses from the United States, that would represent a significant boost to the stockpiles of AstraZeneca in this country.

Ontario has so far distributed the vaccine — which is easier to store and transport than Pfizer or Moderna — to those under 65 through pharmacies in just three health units, Including Toronto. However pharmacies have said that they have nearly run out of the initial supply that arrived from India.

Ford indicated Thursday that pharmacies would play an expanded role in the vaccine rollout.

“You know something, that the pharmacies I think they're gonna do a great job,” he said. “We're running in parallel with the mass vaccination centres, and there's just massive amounts of them (pharmacies).”

He estimated that Ontario could potentially vaccinate 150,000 people a day through partnerships with hundreds of pharmacies if the province had adequate supply.

“The output power, if everyone ramps up is staggering, is absolutely staggering,” Ford said.

He also suggested that Ontario would start using AstraZeneca for people older than 65, based on new advice from the national advisory committee on immunizations (NACI) that the vaccine is effective for older seniors.

“I had a good conversation with the folks here on the logistics side of it. When you change the goalposts it's amazing how, you know, things have to change, making sure that we roll this out,” Ford said. “But we want to get going on it as soon as possible. I think it's good news that we can use AstraZeneca for 60-plus all the way up. And I think it just gives us more flexibility and more ammunition to get needles into people's arms.”

While there had been concern over reports of blots clots potentially associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine, the European Union's drug regulator said Thursday that experts have concluded the AstraZeneca vaccine is not linked to an overall increase in the risk of blood clots.

Ontario has not yet said when it will expand pharmacy vaccinations beyond the initial three health units.