Ottawa signs more deals for potential vaccines
Second COVID-19 wave could be worse than first, Canada’s top doctor says
Canada’s chief public health officer is warning the rising wave of COVID-19 infections could grow worse than the first surge of the pandemic, as the federal government inks new deals to buy millions of doses of potential vaccines and stocks up on an antiviral drug that has been in short supply during the pandemic.
Speaking at her regular pandemic briefing on Parliament Hill on Tuesday, Dr. Theresa Tam said the increase in new cases — particularly among people between 20 and 39 years old — is “threatening our ability to maintain epidemic control.”
She pointed to the increasing spread of the disease over the past month, up from a sevenday average of 380 new daily infections in mid-August to an average of 1,058 this week.
This new wave is “a very different surge” than the first wave of the pandemic, which hammered seniors living in longterm care before settling into a lower rate of infection earlier in the summer, Tam said. Deaths and hospitalizations have also remained relatively low even as cases rise, she said.
But Tam warned that could change, citing new government modelling that shows the number of cases could explode without greater controls, such as regional restrictions and individual efforts to limit contacts with others. She said it is now “critical” for younger Canadians to prevent infections from spilling over into more vulnerable segments of the population.
“We won’t get COVID-19 back on the slow-burn track without your help,” Tam said.
At the same time, the federal government announced Tuesday that it continues efforts to lock up deals with pharmaceutical companies that are racing to create the first effective COVID-19 vaccine. Anita Anand, the federal procurement minister and Liberal MP for Oakville, said the government has signed a new deal to buy up to 72 million doses of the vaccine being jointly developed by Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline. The pharmaceutical giants announced in April that, if successful, their vaccine would be available in the second half of 2021.
The deal is the fifth contract the federal government has signed with vaccine developers in recent weeks, securing access to between 154 million and 262 million vaccine doses,
Anand said Tuesday.
After initially refusing to detail Canada’s spending on these deals, Anand revealed the government has spent “roughly” $1 billion so far, stating in an interview with the Star that she is “trying to strike a balance” between being transparent about government spending and the need to protect the government’s ability to negotiate deals with other vaccine developers.
And while the government push continues, Anand said the agreements inked so far include provisions to reserve manufacturing capacity for Canada, and to start deliveries in early 2021 or sooner if a vaccine is ready.
This is “part of our Canadian strategy to diversify the portfolio of vaccines we have, so that we can have access to a variety of types of vaccines,” she said. “Because at this point, we don’t know which vaccine or vaccines is going to be most efficacious for Canadians, and we need to spread our risk across a number of vaccine developers.”
Anand also said Canada would purchase syringes and vials for up to 80 millions vaccine doses, with deliveries beginning before the end of September. She told the Star that Canada has now secured contracts to buy the equipment needed for a mass vaccination campaign.
The minister also unveiled a deal to buy150,000 vials of remdesivir from Gilead Sciences and McKesson Canada, which she said is the “only known antiviral” drug proven effective in treating COVID-19 patients. Deliveries are expected to begin this month and continue into early 2021.
The drug has been in short supply around the world, and Health Canada recently approved the import and sale of English-only labelled remdesivir that was supposed to be used for clinical trials in the United States, declaring it to be a “medical necessity” during the pandemic.