Ontario unveils COVID-19 vaccine task force, list includes former police chief
Posted December 4, 2020 6:25 am.
Last Updated December 4, 2020 2:56 pm.
Ontario’s government unveiled its COVID-19 vaccine task force on Friday; a list that includes some familiar faces.
Premier Doug Ford says the team has been finalized to ensure the province will be ready to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine when it arrives.
Earlier this month, Ford announced that retired Gen. Rick Hillier will lead the group.
Toronto’s former police chief Mark Saunders has been picked as one of the nine people who will make up the vaccine distribution team.
The rest of the task force includes medical, information technology, and logistics experts. The force also includes a bioethicist who will help decide who should receive first access to the vaccine.
- Dr. Dirk Huyer, Ontario’s Chief Coroner and Coordinator of Provincial Outbreak Response
- Dr. Homer Tien, trauma surgeon and President and CEO, Ornge
- Dr. Maxwell Smith, bioethicist and assistant professor, Western University
- Dr. Isaac Bogoch, infectious diseases consultant and internist, Toronto General Hospital
- Ontario Regional Chief RoseAnne Archibald of Taykwa Tagamou Nation
- Dr. Regis Vaillancourt, Director of Pharmacy and Integrated Pain Services, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
- Linda Hasenfratz, CEO, Linamar Corporation
- Angela Mondou, President and CEO, TECHNATION
- Mark Saunders, former Toronto Police Chief
“This is a critical stage in our fight against COVID-19. The task force we have assembled will play a key role in developing and implementing Ontario’s immunization program,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott. “I am confident that with the collective knowledge, experience and advice from these experts, Ontario will be ready to deliver the vaccines in an ethical, timely and effective manner as soon as they are available.”
Federal health officials say Canada is inching closer to having its first approved vaccine. Health Canada say final documents from drug maker Pfizer are expected on Friday.
The documents details which production lots of the vaccine will be shipped and when delivery can be expected.
Provinces have been instructed to be ready to receive vaccine doses by Dec. 14.
