With more than half of Ontario adults fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Health Minister and Deputy Premier Christine Elliott and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones continued to encourage people — especially unvaccinated people — to get the shot, during a press conference this morning.
Jones said the province's vaccine rollout is ahead of schedule, but this doesn't mean Ontario is moving into Stage 3 of the reopening framework just yet, which is set to happen in a couple of weeks time, though officials said the exact rules for businesses and individuals are still being worked out.
The message today was get vaccinated. Jones said the reduction in cases across the province is proof of just how effective the COVID-19 vaccines are. She said of the new cases identified between May 15 and June 12, a full 83 per cent were among unvaccinated people.
"This show just how important it is" to get the shot, Jones said.
Asked about border restrictions and help for Ontario's struggling tourism industry, which relies on U.S. tourists crossing the border, Elliott said the province has to balance the needs of businesses with the need for public safety. She said explosive outbreaks of the Delta variant in places like the Timmins region show how fast cases of the new variant can rise.
In a followup question, Elliott was asked why the province keeps pushing the message people should fear the Delta variant when data in U.K. shows while cases climbed quickly, hospitalizations didn't climb at the same rate (as reported by The New York Times and others), implying the variant possibly isn't as virulent.
Elliott didn't directly address the U.K.'s experience with Delta and hospitalizations, but said the lower hospitalization rate could be due to widespread vaccinations (which has been shown to lessen the severity of illness) and the hard work of front-line health care workers and public health measures.
She said this is why it is important for people to get the shot.
Elliott was also asked if Ontario is considering incentives to convince people to get vaccinated as is being done in other jurisdictions and whether the province is considering disincentives, such as vaccine passports, to convince those who refuse to be vaccinated to change their minds.
She said Ontario is not considering taking either of those actions at this time.
