European Union leader won’t let ‘cherished friend’ Canada down

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he received further reassurance this week that Canada’s expected supply of COVID-19 vaccines is secure.

Trudeau says he spoke Tuesday with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about Europe’s vaccine export controls and Moderna chair Noubar Afeyan on Monday about the company’s Canadian contract. He said von der Leyen reiterated Europe won’t stop Canada’s shipments. She later tweeted that Canada is a “cherished friend” to Europe.

A spokeswoman for the European Commission told The Canadian Press last week that every request for vaccine exports has been granted so far, with 37 countries receiving them, including Canada.

Trudeau said Afeyan, whose company cut deliveries to Canada this month while it struggles to fully ramp up production in Europe, promised him the company will make good on the final 1.3 million doses of Moderna’s vaccine to meet its contract to supply two million doses by the end of March.

Moderna has an earnings update for investors scheduled for Feb. 25 and is not expected to report any more details on its production situation until then.

Trudeau’s Liberals are breathing an almost audible sigh of relief as deliveries of vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech are restored following four weeks of slowdowns while a plant in Belgium was expanded.