Doug Ford can’t enter home due to ongoing anti-vaccine protests: office
Posted December 20, 2021 10:51 pm.
Last Updated December 21, 2021 12:05 pm.
Premier Doug Ford and his family continue to grapple with ongoing anti-vaccine protests outside his home, his office confirmed on Monday.
“The Premier and his family haven’t been able to get into their home for most of the weekend or today because anti-vaxxers have been protesting outside their house,” Ivana Yelich, Ford’s executive director of media relations, wrote on Twitter.
In a follow-up statement to CityNews on Tuesday, Yelich said similar incidents have happened throughout the course of the pandemic.
“These petty tactics have no impact on this government’s resolve to do the right thing in order to protect the people of Ontario. The only thing these people are doing is targeting and harassing innocent neighbours and family members who have nothing to do with the government’s decision-making,” she wrote.
“Furthermore, it’s taking much-needed resources away from police. These demonstrators have every right to come to the grounds of Queen’s Park like anyone else to express their views, but this continued harassment of innocent people has no place in Ontario.”
Similar protests have been held outside the home of Health Minister Christine Elliott in recent weeks. In September, other demonstrations saw hundreds gather outside hospitals to denounce COVID-19 measures.
RELATED: Doug Ford pleads with protesters to stop coming to his neighbourhood, scaring children
Ford faced criticism from the opposition after he suggested nurses could volunteer to administer booster shots to every eligible Ontarian over 18.
“It is disrespectful that the Premier has the audacity to ask nurses to volunteer at vaccine clinics after all they have been through these past two years,” Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner said.
“It’s another slap in the face to the health-care heroes that have been treated so poorly by this government.”
Yelich refuted Schreiner’s comments.
“The Premier did not single out nurses, and he certainly did not ask them to volunteer their time. He asked all health professionals to lend as much time as possible putting needles into arms and asked everyone else to volunteer at a clinic if they can,” she wrote.
Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath wrote on social media that Ford’s government “has failed our health care workers,” saying that those working in the frontlines are burnt out.
“They’ve been short-staffed for years. [Doug] Ford has capped their wages. Many are walking away. New ICU beds won’t staff themselves. #ONpoli #RepealBill124,” Horwath tweeted.
Ford tightened public health measures Friday — limiting capacity at restaurants, retailers and other venues — while capping indoor social gatherings to 10 people for the holidays.
RELATED: Toronto hospital network suspends non-emergency surgeries due to Omicron variant
The Premier was unwilling to take those steps just two days earlier when he announced an accelerated COVID-19 vaccine booster campaign but changed his position after expert projections suggested third shots alone couldn’t stop the variant from wreaking havoc in the coming weeks.
“The experts have been very clear: nothing will stop the spread of Omicron. It’s just too transmissible. What we can do, and what we’re doing, is slowing it as much as possible to allow more time for shots to get into arms,” Ford said Friday.
The new restrictions, effective as of Sunday, sees restaurant, bar and retail capacity limited to 50 per cent. At the same time, outdoor social gatherings can have no more than 25 people, down from a limit of 100. Indoors, the gathering limit dropped to 10 from 25.
The measures also prohibit food and drink consumption at prominent venues such as cinemas and sporting arenas.
The new rules — which the province didn’t put an end date on — don’t apply to facilities hosting wedding ceremonies, funerals or religious services.
Booster shot eligibility expanded on Monday as thousands of Ontarians 18-and-up rushed to book online. Ministry of Health spokesperson Alexandra Hilkene said approximately 186,000 appointments had been booked through the provincial booking system at 3 p.m. on Monday.
Adults 50 years of age and older have been eligible since Dec. 12.
The province reported 3,784 new COVID-19 cases on Monday. Ontario recorded almost 4,200 new COVID-19 cases yesterday — more than two-thirds of them in fully vaccinated people.
It was the highest daily tally since Apr. 23, and it helped double the province’s seven-day average of cases to more than 2,500.
With files from The Canadian Press
