Thursday, March 28, 2024

Canada signs deal for 20 million additional doses of Pfizer vaccine

Share

The federal government announced on Tuesday that they have signed a deal to procure 20 million additional doses of Pfizer vaccine.

Those additional doses will bring Canada’s total order from the U.S-based pharmaceutical company to 40 million.

Federal procurement minister Anita Anand said at a press conference Tuesday morning that the doses will be delivered this year.

“Canada is well on track to meet our goal of ensuring that we have enough vaccines that every eligible person who wishes to be, will be vaccinated by the end of September,” Anand said.

The minister says that 2 million doses of Pfizer will arrive in Canada in Q2 of 2021, by the end of June. Anand says this is an acceleration of a delivery that was expected in Q3.

B.C. is currently leading the provinces in vaccine delivery, with 84 per cent of its allocated doses administered.

However, this has also meant the Pfizer supply in Canada’s westernmost province was expected to run out on Monday, according to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

She said the province is awaiting more supplies of Pfizer and Moderna that are expected to arrive by the end of the week.

“We know that the vaccine that we are receiving — will be receiving, if it comes, as we’ve been guaranteed — will be back-end loaded,” said Henry.

“We are getting more doses in January than we did in December, more doses in February than we did in January, and more doses in March, quite a large step up in March, compared to January and February.”

Priority continues to be given to high-risk individuals such as frontline workers in long term care homes, remote and rural communities and First Nations, and elderly people in long term care.

Tim Ford
Tim Ford
Digital staff writer with Victoria Buzz

Read more

Latest Stories