Anand defends Canada's $8-billion vaccine delivery performance
OTTAWA — Procurement Minister Anita Anand revealed the government has spent $8 billion on vaccine contracts and defended the government's overall performance getting shots delivered to Canadians at a House of Commons committee Wednesday.
Anand appeared before the House of Commons government operations committee and said the government has spent about $8 billion on the vaccine deals with seven different companies for hundreds of millions of total doses.
She said she wants to provide more transparency about the details of the deals, but doesn't want to break confidentiality clauses in the agreements with pharmaceutical companies that could threaten Canada's supply
“We are working with the companies in terms of what they are comfortable disclosing, but at the current time those negotiations are ongoing,” she told MPs at committee.
Anand stressed the government was ahead of its targets having delivered 9.5 million doses by the end of March, when it had originally promised province six million doses.
She also pointed out Canada is third in the G7 in providing first doses of vaccines.
Conservative MP Kelly McCauley said the government was only able to make those claims because Canada had delayed the interval between the first and second dose to four months.
“We're not able to give the second dose because your government has failed Canadians so miserably,” he said. “Lives are being destroyed.”
Anand said it was ultimately the provinces who decided the dosing strategy after getting recommendations from the National Advisory Council on Immunization. She said the government would like to have more vaccines of course, but believes the government has delivered.
“We all want more vaccines coming into this country. That's what lights my fire every single day. But suffice it to say that a diversified portfolio of vaccines has served Canada well.”
She said that as of Tuesday 12 million doses had arrived in Canada in total and provinces had a two-week supply at their current inoculation rates.
Canada's Moderna shipments have been delayed in recent weeks.
Anand said those delays have been three to four days at most and related to the quality assurance at the company's facility. “There is a backlog of vaccines that need to be tested before they can leave the factory.”
Anand said she expects every Canadian can receive a first dose by the end of June and be fully vaccinated by the end of September.