Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated Sunday that he has apologized for accusing a First Nations MPP who got a COVID-19 vaccine of queue jumping, adding that things “got a little personal” due to the fact that the MPP is from a different political party.

The original allegation was made Thursday during a Question Period exchange between the premier and NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa from the Kiiwetinoong riding.

In response to a question about what the government has done to vaccinate vulnerable Indigenous people in urban areas, Ford said that his party had prioritized the vaccination of 31 fly-in communities

“Not only did Ornge fly in, but the member flew in to get his vaccine. So thank you for doing that and kind of jumping the line. And I talked to a few chiefs that were pretty upset about that, for flying into a community that he doesn't belong but that's here nor there,” Ford said on Thursday.

Mamakwa did receive the COVID-19 vaccine, but has been open about the fact that he was invited to do so by community elders in order to help combat vaccine hesitancy.

Indigenous people have also been included as a priority group for vaccination throughout Phase 1 of Ontario’s distribution plan, regardless of where they live.

The premier refused to retract or apologize for the comment on Thursday, despite calls from the opposition party to do so, instead choosing to issue a statement on Friday saying that he had phoned Mamakwa to apologize to him directly.

Following a news conference on the province’s COVID-19 vaccine strategy, Ford was asked again about the comments. He reiterated that he has apologized to Mamakwa, but then suggested the comments were made for political reasons

“Folks, let's keep in mind, we're two political parties,” Ford told reporters on Sunday. “A lot of stuff goes on in the legislature. Sometimes it gets personal. I apologized, I got a little personal there. My job is defend our party, defend my minister when he's not there.”

The premier went on to tout his “incredible relationship” with the Indigenous community and Ontario Regional Chief RoseAnne Archibald.

“We both want the same thing. We want to make sure the First Nations community and Indigenous communities is represented and we want to make sure everyone gets vaccines. So on that note, we're on the same page. But let's not forget, we're from two separate political parties, and there's a lot of politics that get played day in and day out in the (legislature) over there.”

While Ford has apologized for his accusation, he has not publicly retracted the comment.

On Friday, Mamakwa said that while he appreciated the premier’s call, he would like to see him apologize to First Nations.

“If he’s apologizing, I think I would want to see some action,” Mamakwa said. “Actions speak louder than words and we need to be able to see those urban Indigenous-led vaccine clinics in Toronto and Thunder Bay. They’re in a crisis right now and we need to able to address those.”

Mamakwa responded to Ford in a video posted to Twitter Sunday afternoon.

"This morning, he had a chance to undo the damage he did to the vaccine rollout for Indigenous people. He had a chance to use his platform and say, all Indigenous adults qualify, no matter where you live. And getting your shot is a good thing, not a bad thing. But he didn't do that," he said.

"I'm disappointed that the premier is hurting rather than helping us in that mission."

-With files from Joshua Freeman