Is Liberal hostility to Big Pharma behind vaccine shortage?

Sick of lockdown? Want your life back? Get the vaccine. That is, if it’s available. Last Friday, Pfizer announced it would be shipping Canada only half the number of vaccines originally planned for next month, as it retools its production facility in Belgium. On Tuesday, Maj.-gen. dany Fortin, who oversees the federal vaccine rollout, said Pfizer has now deferred all shipments to Canada for next week.

Canada was supposed to receive 735,150 doses between Jan. 18 and Feb. 14, following the 600,000 doses delivered to date. Not anymore. Provincial governments are now scrambling to rework their vaccination plans — at a time when the pandemic is raging and a more contagious strain of the virus is spreading.

Not all of Pfizer’s clients have to wait that long. When the delay was announced, european Commission President ursula von der Leyen “immediately called the CEO of Pfizer.” The result? europeans will wait just one week for their shipments to return to normal levels, while Canada will wait four weeks.

Why is Canada at the back of the line? Conservative health critic Michelle rempel Garner dumped it squarely in the lap of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “It’s up to the prime minister to explain to Canadians why they won’t be able to get vaccinated for months, while european countries have minimal delays in receiving vaccines ... why we might be looking at many more months of lockdown — with the lost jobs, time with families, and mental-health challenges that accompany them.”

Why indeed. economics could well be a factor. As of this week, europe is purchasing 600 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, double its initial order; Canada, only four million. Then there’s politics. europe is a pharma powerhouse, home to the headquarters and production facilities of companies like Pfizer, Sanofi, roche and Novartis. And while european governments have had their differences with these companies over prices in the past few years, they pale to what has been happening in Canada.

In 2017, then health minister Jane Philpott announced Ottawa’s intention to bring Canadian drug prices “down in line with what we’re seeing in countries like New Zealand.” The result was a series of regulatory changes proposed by Canada’s Patented Medicine Prices review Board in 2019, which took effect Jan. 1, 2021. To lower prices, the PMPRB would change its comparison-price benchmarks from higher-priced countries to lower-priced ones in its price-fixing mechanism, introduce “economic tests,” and require manufacturers to report confidential rebates negotiated with insurers.

The changes prompted vociferous opposition from patient groups, including the Cystic Fibrosis Society and rarei, advocates for victims of rare diseases. In October 2020, that group advised that “developing treatments for rare disorders is already an extremely risky and costly endeavour and these price controls create a massive barrier to entry in Canada.”

Indeed, countries like New Zealand — cited as the model for the new Canadian policy — have seen innovation and access to new medicines grind to a halt under its pricing regulations. A 2019 report commissioned by Medicines New Zealand ranked the country last for access to funded medicines and pharmaceutical investment among 20 Oecd countries. Of 304 modern medicines funded internationally from 2011-17, New Zealand funded only 17. Life-saving cancer medicines and drugs remained unavailable, as the price ceilings set by the country’s regulators discouraged their introduction into the market.

Why was the Liberal government so intent on copying this model? Two words: national pharmacare. Without lower prices, the Liberals’ promise to introduce pharmacare would cost far more than Ottawa could afford. And without a pharmacare promise in their platform, the Liberals may not have siphoned enough NDP votes to eke out their minority government in 2019 — or to stay in power since.

Whether Ottawa’s hostility to the pharma industry affected Canada’s access to vaccines in recent days, no one can say. But one thing is certain: under the new regulations, Canada will only become a lower priority for pharmaceutical firms and will slip to the back of the line for all innovative medicines. As Canadians wait to get their shots so they can get out of lockdown, that’s something they shouldn’t forget about at election time.

why is canada at the rear of the most important line? plenty of blame abounds.