Ontario Ontario/IBNS: A single-day high of 2,553 new cases of COVID-19 was reported by Ontario on Tuesday, with 895 in Toronto, 496 in Peel Region, 147 in Windsor-Essex, 144 in Hamilton, and 142 in York Region bringing the province's seven-day average to 2,236.
Ontario public health officials were criticized for scaling down the province's vaccination program over the holidays.
Hospital staff has warned that with a record-high of 304 people in intensive care units, they are reaching maximum capacity and would cause the health care system to be overwhelmed.
Ontario announced on Monday that it's changing its vaccination plans not to reserve doses for the second round but instead to vaccinate as many people as possible.
"We're going to keep our eye to make sure that the second dose for those individuals is on our … horizon," Hillier said.
Hillier said on Monday that "we're exactly where we planned to be."
Defending the government's decision to scale back vaccinations during the holiday, Hillier said it was based on advice that front-line workers needed a break.
"They've been working under terrible stress, terrible hours, under terrible conditions oftentimes for 10 months. And they had a little time planned with their supervisors for their time off at Christmas," he said.
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
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