There's a call from Windsor council for the province to speed up its roll out of COVID-19 booster shots.
With cases of the Omicron variant surging, councillor Fred Francis says eligibility for a booster shot needs to be widened as data shows a third shot can be effective against the variant.
As it stands now, booster shot appointments are only available to those aged 50 and up, health care workers, essential caregivers and Indigenous adults.
Francis says getting shots in arms sooner than later is critical.
"If the plan is to give everyone 18 and up a booster shot to continue to fight COVID-19 in January, we have three weeks before we hit January. Let's use that time. I mean, we know that a week in the battle against COVID is huge and can make a significant difference."
He says the goal should be to get the shots out as quickly as possible.
"If we could get more vaccines, more boosters into the arms of people going into the holiday season, going into the cold weather months, I can't help but think that that would make a world of difference. Maybe it would allow people to have family gatherings, maybe it would allow businesses to open at full capacity."
Francis says the province needs to stop dragging its feet.
"The thing we've learned with COVID over the last 20 or so months is that time is literally of the essence. So if we have the supply, if we have the ability, then we shouldn't wait if we don't have to. Clearly they have to see what's happening, not only in Windsor-Essex, but what we're starting to see across Ontario."
The first case of the Omicron variant was detected in Windsor-Essex on Tuesday while there are roughly 95 cases of the variant across the province.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is expected to make an announcement Wednesday about COVID-19 booster shots.
— with files from AM800's Rob Hindi