Canada has received 400,000 doses of vaccinations from Pfizer-BioNTech this week.
The shipment is the largest Canada has received since shipments began in December.
The federal government has been criticized for its vaccine rollout compared to countries like the United States or Israel, who have been world leaders in vaccine rollouts.
Just over 1.5 million doses have been administered across the country since December.
The federal government said in a release that 14.5 million Canada should be vaccinated against COVID-19 by June with the approved Pfizer and Moderna vaccinations.
Due to the extreme weather conditions and a lack of supply, Canada will play catch up with their delayed vaccines, according to Major General Dany Fortin, who heads the country’s vaccine distribution efforts.
“We are getting more vaccines than initially anticipated in the second quarter – this spring. Vaccines will be brought from summer forward. The ones we expected in fall are coming in spring. By spring we should expect 40 million doses,” Major-General Dany Fortin said in a video call on Thursday morning.
Canada should expect 444,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine every week. By the end of the first quarter, 4 million Pfizer vaccines will have been distributed.
On the lack of supply for Canada, CEO of Pfizer Canada, Cole Pinnow, said both the government and Pfizer were anticipating a normal review cycle which would have seen Health Canada make a decision on the efficacy of the vaccine this past February.
Since Health Canada came to a decision in September there’s been pressure on governments to vaccinate their citizens quicker.
Prime Minister Trudeau announced a deal with Novavax earlier this month that would see them produce their vaccine at a facility in Montreal.
The production facility will be finished construction by the end of summer.
