King 'open to any conversation' about sending COVID-19 vaccines to harder-hit provinces

P.E.I. Premier Dennis King says he's "open to any conversation" about the province sending some of its COVID-19 vaccine supply to harder-hit provinces.

In a brief but wide-ranging interview with CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton, King was asked if there "would be a conversation" about delaying vaccine rollout in P.E.I., which has had no hospitalizations or deaths during the pandemic, so shots could be sent elsewhere in the country.

"We're gracious by nature here," King said. "We are always willing to do our part across the country and I would certainly be open to any conversation in that regard, but at the same time lslanders here have done well.... We've been fortunate not to have deaths here so far, but we've also been very, very bullish in how we have approached the pandemic every day. 

"So at the same time Islanders are wanting to get through this like all Canadians."

King said the plan is to have 80 per cent of the province vaccinated by the end of June (see external link at bottom of story for details).

Asked about P.E.I.'s plan to delay its second dose to get more first doses into more arms faster, King said he's "very confident" it's the right choice for the province.

Bubble back in the spring, premier says

Part of the reason for P.E.I.'s low number of cases is that the Atlantic provinces have been much stricter than other areas of Canada concerning restrictions and especially quarantine for arrivals from outside other areas.

When all four Atlantic provinces were doing well, they created the so-called Atlantic bubble, which allowed residents of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador to travel relatively freely across each other's borders without quarantining.

It started July 3 before falling apart amid higher case counts in late November.

King told Barton he believes they'll have the Atlantic bubble in place again "in early spring."

"So we'll have that regional travel and it is our intention this year, in 2021, when it's safe to do so, to welcome our Canadian visitors here, and I can't wait till we're able to do that," he said.

Federal conditions on health-care money OK: King

King also spoke about the premiers' call for an increase in health-care transfers, saying he's encouraged that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recognizes more health-care spending has been needed, even pre-pandemic.

Right now, the provinces spend about $188 billion on health care and the federal government covers $42 billion — roughly 22 per cent of total costs. The premiers have asked for a permanent increase in the federal share to 35 per cent cent, which works out to an additional $28 billion and would bring the total federal share to $70 billion.

King said he'd be willing to accept conditions on new money.

"I do believe that it's not unreasonable for the federal government to want to make sure they see some results from the money they spend," he said. "I look at it from my perspective, as I deal with municipalities or NGOs in my province, I want to make sure when I'm putting taxpayers' money into their hands to deliver services they are going to follow through on that. I think it's the same at the national level."