Windsor mayor hopes Ottawa will 'wake up' and support tunnel COVID-19 vaccine clinic

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens sayshe hasn't gotten support from Ottawa onhis plan to get Windsorites vaccinated with excess U.S. dosesbut he's still pushing to make it happen.

"It is my hope that the federal government will hopefully wake up and start to work with us on a very sensible pathway to help accelerate the vaccination of our local population," he said on CBC Radio's Windsor Morning on Tuesday.

Dilkens appeared virtually before the House of Commons standing committee on health Monday to reinforce his position that the federal government shouldn't be standing in the way of his idea to use the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel as a makeshift COVID-19 vaccine clinic for the administration of second doses.

LISTEN: Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens joins CBC Radio's Windsor Morning:

Dilkensdescribed the unorthodox plan as "not optimal," but said it would allow Windsorites to take advantage of thousands of vaccines that he says arebeing wasted stateside.

"If that's the pathway that can make this work, then we're prepared to do that," he said.

U.S. wasting 'liquid gold'

Around37,000 doses have been wasted or spoiled in Michigan, according to U.S. media reports citing state data.

Some vaccine doses are going unused becausethere are, for example, six shotsin a vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and a limited timeframe in which to use the product once it's opened.

"Those doses would be like liquid gold here. We could get them into arms in 30 seconds flat," Dilkens said.

As of Tuesday, about 11 per cent of Windsor-Essex residents have gotten both required doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, though nearly 60 per cent of the population has received at least one dose since the rollout began in December.

Officials including Dilkens and Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj have been pushing for weeks to establish a meansto accelerate the vaccinerollout byproviding access toexcess or expiring vaccines from the U.S. supply.

Late last month,Dilkens set up a "wait list" for people to express interest in gettingtheir second doses of the Pfizer-vaccine in the cross-bordertunnel. So far, more than 11,000 people have signed up.

Under the proposed plan, aWindsor pharmacist would be giving the needle from the U.S. side of the border to Canadians, who will remain on their own side and therefore won't be subject to the mandatory 14-day quarantine restrictions for returning international travellers.

Dilkens saidhe'dneed the support of the border agencies on both sides of the borderto pull it off.

"This is designed to be a very organized event, a structured event," he said.

Crews recently painted a line in the tunnel to clearly delineate the border.

But thePublic Health Agency of Canada haspokedholes in theplan on regulatory as well asother grounds.

Kathy Thompson, executive vice president of PHAC, sent a letter to Dilkenson Monday.

"It is our understanding that actual vaccination, in other words administration of the vaccine into a patient's arm, will occur on the U.S. side of the border. However, if the U.S. nurse or pharmacist reaches across the border to administer it to a person in Canada, that is considered importation of product and requires an expression of no objection from Health Canada."

More vaccines on the way, Ottawa says

So far, federal data shows about11.7 million COVID-19 vaccines have been delivered to Ontario from the federal government.

The letter from PHACstated that therewill be enough shots to allow all Canadians to get their first vaccine dose by Canada Day.

"There will be weekly deliveries of 2.4 million doses of Pfizer through July of which over 540,000 are being directed to Ontario," the letter said.

Federal Health MinisterPatty Hajdu,who recently had a meetingwith Dilkens on the cross-border vaccineidea, said in the House of Commons late last month that there are enough vaccines in Canadafor Canadians.