Why Moderna’s vaccine shipments to Canada have been delayed,

Canadian officials unsure of how many doses next instalment will include

OTTAWA—Moderna’s delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to Canada has hit delays because the company has encountered problems with its European supply chain and restrictions on exports of vaccine supplies, the Star has learned.

A senior federal source with knowledge of the file told the Star that Moderna is trying to source the material needed to produce its vaccine, and to meet demand for materials needed to package the vaccines. The source said the company’s own supply for materials has been affected by the European Union’s attempt to control how much material is exported before its member states are supplied with vaccine.

In a written statement to the Star, Moderna’s country manager for Canada, Patricia Gauthier, confirmed the company’s effort to scale up production in Switzerland is a factor in delayed deliveries to countries outside of the United States.

The statement said Moderna has provided revised shortterm delivery guidance “outside of the U.S., including to the government of Canada based on the ramp up trajectory of drug substance manufacturing in Switzerland.”

It also suggested no problems are occurring with its packaging process. “Fill and finish activities continue as planned,” the statement said. “Moderna remains focused on operating at the highest level of quality to ensure the safety of the vaccine.”

Moderna also confirmed its contract with Canada specifies “delivery volumes per quarter,” and said it will “meet its contractual commitments for the first quarter and the following quarters in order to deliver 40 million doses by the end of the third quarter.”

It said its strategic collaboration with Lonza in Switzerland — which started mass production of Moderna vaccines this year — aims to manufacture up to one billion doses of its COVID-19 vaccine per year.

“Lonza and Moderna has established dedicated production suites, equipment, utilities, systems, and personnel at Lonza’s Switzerland facility. All supply agreements with countries outside of the United States, including with Canada, will be supplied from a dedicated manufacturing site at Lonza in Switzerland,” the company statement said.

The delays from Moderna follow more than a month of reduced shipments of the only other COVID-19 vaccine approved in Canada, which is made by Pfizer-BioNTech. The government blamed those delays on work to expand production at the vaccine-maker’s facility in Belgium, which is slated to fill Canada’s orders.

But unlike Pfizer, which is supposed to send doses to Canada weekly, Moderna shipments arrive every three weeks. The head of logistics for Canada’s vaccine rollout, Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, revealed last week that the most recent shipment — slated for the week of Feb. 1 — was 22 per cent smaller than expected: 180,000 vaccine doses instead of 230,000.

The next expected Moderna shipment, for the week of Feb. 22, is now also expected to be lower than the 249,000 doses originally scheduled. But Health Canada spokesperson Eric Morrissette told the Star on Monday that the government still doesn’t know exactly how many doses Moderna will ship that week.

Canada had received and distributed almost 1.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of

Thursday, according to the latest figures from the federal government.

Ottawa promises it will have enough shots for all Canadians by the end of September, having contracted for 80 million doses from Moderna and PfizerBioNTech this year.

That timeline could move sooner, however, if Health Canada approves other vaccines. Canada has purchased 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Canada is also pulling 1.9 million doses of that vaccine from COVAX, a World Health Organization initiative to ensure fair access to COVID-19 shots around the world.

On Monday, Morrissette said nothing has changed since the department announced on Jan. 29 that it expects to make a decision on AstraZeneca’s vaccine “in the coming days.”

A source said Moderna’s supply has been affected by the European Union’s attempt to control exports