GTHA Mayors and Chairs committed to COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Hamilton, ON – Today, Mayors and Chairs from the 11 largest municipal governments across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area held their regular weekly meeting to discuss the ongoing response to COVID-19 across the region.

All GTHA municipalities are working to support the provincial and federal governments in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine and preparing for the arrival of what we anticipate will be substantial additional supply. The Mayors and Chairs urge all residents to get vaccinated when they are eligible. The vaccine will protect you and your loved ones. The safe reopening of the GTHA for the long-term with no further threat of lockdowns will ultimately rely on as many people being vaccinated as possible. We believe it is important that the people we collectively serve receive consistent messaging with respect to the availability of vaccinations (including information around when, who, where, why).

All municipalities on the call, representing millions of people, are anxiously awaiting confirmation by the Province that they will be compensated for the millions of dollars in expenditures involved in delivering the vaccinations.

Supporting the vaccine rollout is one more example of the important work municipal governments and their local health units are doing in the fight against COVID-19. We are continuing to have good, positive discussions with the federal and provincial governments about additional support for municipalities facing other financial pressures (ie. transit and housing) due to the pandemic.

“To help stop this pandemic, we need to use all our prevention tools. COVID-19 vaccines are one of the most effective tools to protect the health of individuals and the health of our communities. Please do not let your guard down and continue to follow local public health guidelines, preventive health measures, and get the vaccine when it is available to you. We need to work together to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our community, to reserve healthcare and hospital capacity and to protect vulnerable settings like long-term care homes.”  - Mayor Fred Eisenberger