The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) announced Tuesday the establishment of the Ontario Vaccination Support Council, founded by close to 100 businesses, organizations, and the Ontario Chamber Network. In a January 19 media release, the Council will leverage the businesses and organizations involved, representing hundreds of thousands of employees from across the province, to provide support for Ontario’s historic COVID-19 vaccination effort with the ultimate goal of ending the pandemic.

The Council will be co-chaired by James Scongack, Executive-Vice President of Corporate Affairs & Operational Services at Bruce Power and Garrick Tiplady, the Managing Director of Facebook.

“Today, we are pleased to launch the Ontario Vaccination Support Council with our partners at Bruce Power and Facebook Canada,” said Rocco Rossi, President and CEO of the OCC. “The faster the Ontario population is inoculated, the faster we can safely reopen and work together on the province’s economic recovery. Ontario’s business community stands ready to assist in the fight against COVID-19 and help drive our economic recovery in the future.”

The Council will bring together a diverse group of OCC members, representing a range of sectors, to share pertinent information and provide government with timely and evidence-based recommendations. The Council will:

• Provide Ontario’s business community with a window into the Ontario Vaccine Distribution Task Force to share public health information; updates on logistics and distribution plans and seek input on non-health-related issues.

• Consolidate a directory of capabilities and services within the Chamber Network that could be utilized and procured by government, hospitals and public health in the distribution of vaccinations.

• Share policies, best practices and approaches with government to ensure the maximum participation of employers and their employees in vaccination efforts with a specific focus on being proactive and removing barriers.

“Now more than ever we need an ‘all hands-on deck’ approach to engage and support Ontario’s historic vaccination program with the ultimate goal of ending the pandemic. While there will be challenges ahead in such a large and critical effort, the Council will bring together Ontario’s business community, leveraging their agility, capability, innovation, and engagement to ensure we face this challenge together as Ontarians,” said James Scongack, Executive Vice-President, Corporate Affairs and Operational Services at Bruce Power.

To view the full media release, including participating companies, visit occ.ca/mediareleases/ontario-business-community-launches-the-covid-19-ontario-vaccination-support-council.