National Post (National Edition)
Pfizer vaccine shipments to be cut in half over next four weeks.
`Temporary reduction,' minister says
OTTAWA • Canada’s shipments of COVID-19 vaccines from drug giant Pfizer will be cut in half over the next four weeks, putting a major dent in the rollout of shots as case numbers, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise in many parts of the country.
The company is reducing shipments to all countries that receive the vaccine from its European plant, so it can complete work to upgrade the facility. The upgrade will allow the company to produce more vaccines this year, but will delay shipments for many countries.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand said she was informed of the delay late on Thursday and said, while disappointing, the reduced shipments should have a limited impact.
“This is a temporary reduction. It is not a stoppage, so we are going to see continued vaccines coming in from Pfizer and of course Moderna over the next few weeks,” she said.
“We will make up those doses, Pfizer has told us those doses will continue to arrive in February and March.”
New modelling from the Public Health Agency of Canada released Friday predicts Canada will see nearly 800,000 cases by January 24 and as many as 19,630 deaths.
As of Friday, there had been 688,891 cases and 17,538 deaths. Quebec and Ontario continue to see some of the worst numbers.
Canada has only two approved vaccines against the virus so far, Pfizer and Moderna. Pfizer is set to provide four million doses before March and Moderna is scheduled to provide two million in that time frame.
Starting next week, Pfizer was set to deliver 208,000 doses a week to Canada in January, rising to 367,000 doses every week of February.
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin said he expects next week’s shipment to be roughly as expected, but in the last week in January, Canada will get only a quarter of the 208,000 doses. He said in February, the deliveries will begin at half the anticipated 367,000, but rise steadily through the month.
Overall, Fortin said the reduction would see Canada get half of the vaccines it had been expecting in that four-week period. He said the company has committed to make up the doses late in February and in March so the initial commitment of four million doses in the first three months of 2021 will be met.
“This is a bump in the road and we will continue to cruise forward after that,” he said.
The news of a reduction comes as provinces have sped up their efforts to actually get the vaccines into arms. At the start of the month, provinces had large percentages of their vaccines sitting in freezers, but they have significantly narrowed that gap.
As of Thursday evening, the provinces had administered 459,492 vaccines of the 594,975 doses delivered to them by the federal government, according to the COVID-19 open data working group, a project from researchers at the universities of Toronto and Guelph.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his province was scaling up and prepared to significantly ramp up deliveries.
“We are building the capacity. We are emptying our freezers,” he said. “We now have the capacity to administer 20,000 vaccines a day and we are working our way to up to 40,000 per day by February
On Thursday, even before Pfizer cut its production, Fortin said the provinces’ efforts are appreciated, but supply will be limited until April when deliveries are expected to rise significantly.
“The challenge is we have limited quantity. We will have a significant jump in the second quarter and we’ll be able to distribute much larger quantities.”
Retired Gen. Rick Hillier, who is overseeing Ontario’s rollout, said the province is scaling up its vaccine program constantly and can handle many more doses if the federal government can deliver.
“We started the motor. We have taken our foot off the brake. We really haven’t put it on the accelerator.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the news from Pfizer was a disappointing setback, but is to be expected and Canada has pursued a strategy of getting many different vaccines as a result.
“This is a challenge but we knew these types of challenges would happen with a global effort like this and that’s why we’ve made sure to ensure that we have a varied approach.”
Trudeau also said the government was considering travel bans as new variants of the virus have started to emerge in some countries. Trudeau didn’t make any specific announcements, but said they were looking at reports of a new variant in Brazil.
Pfizer is a two-dose vaccine, adding additional complexity to the delay. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said his province needs specific numbers soon so it can adjust its rollout.
“The federal government has advised Saskatchewan to expect 11,700 Pfizer doses a week throughout the month of February and we have been planning our vaccine rollout based on this schedule, including second dosages,” he said on Twitter.
Moe also encouraged the government to push forward on approval for other vaccines candidates so Canada can get more shots into arms.
“This also raises the importance of the federal government quickly reviewing and approving additional vaccine candidates including the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is already being administered in other countries.”