A local MPP is continuing to press the provincial government on vaccines diverted from Niagara.
Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates is demanding answers as to when the region will get its share of the Moderna and Pfizer shots.
Gates says it's vital to get vaccines to Niagara quickly, as the region has the third oldest average population age in the country.
"Given that Niagara is such a high-risk zone and given the over 200 outbreaks we’ve had across the region with over 350 deaths, it makes sense that Niagara would be given its fair share of both the available vaccines. Yet in early January we found out that a shipment of the lifesaving Moderna vaccines were diverted away from Niagara and sent elsewhere at the expense of healthcare workers and seniors."
The MPP is criticizing the Ford government, saying that given the previous COVID-19 death rates and the number of seniors that live in the region, diverting doses from the region doesn't make sense.
"From Christmas to the end of January, we saw hundreds of seniors die in Niagara, at one point Niagara was witnessed a death every three and a half hours."
Paul Calanadra, the Government's House Leader, issued a response on behalf of the Ford government, saying that there was never a discrepancy and the region has received its fair share of vaccines.
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