Sarnia's mayor believes the Canada U.S. border will remain closed to non-essential traffic until mid-2021.
Mike Bradley told Sue Storr on CHOK (103.9 FM, 1070 AM) Wednesday morning that border restrictions will ease with the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine.
"Months and months ago is when we talked about this, and I said at the time that I expected the border to be closed through Christmas because there simply wasn't going to be an overnight solution in the U.S. or here," said Bradley. "I'm personally now of the belief that we're talking at least mid to late spring to July 1 before the border will reopen and that will run parallel to the vaccine."
The number of COVID-related deaths in Michigan surpassed 10,000 this week compared to 3,800 in Ontario.
Bradley said he and several other mayors took part in a call Tuesday with Ontario's premier, the deputy premier, and Retired General Rick Hillier, the head of the province's vaccine task force.
They were told the locations of the initial designated vaccine sites are expected to be released in the next day or so.
"Keep in mind that when you look at the number of shots initially, it's fairly low but it gets us into what's going to come," he said. "That was clear that this is still a work in progress, it's never been done in Canada before to this scale. I think that's why they've been smart to bring the military in, both at the national and local level because that's what they do. They move people and goods and are very good at logistics."
The mayor said they were told it could be well into next year before everyone has access to the vaccine, and Hillier's key message was for everyone to be patient because logistically the roll-out is a mammoth task.
Bradley said the roll-out will be driven by the healthcare system not local government.
Canada approved the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday.
-With files from Sue Storr
https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/1337529147632066560