Trudeau confident on vaccine supply
Orders won’t be affected as European Union mulls export controls, PM says
OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government is working to avoid further disruptions to the flow of COVID-19 vaccines as politicians in Europe — where Canada’s entire current supply of approved shots is made — discuss controlling vaccine exports to prioritize their own citizens.
Asked Tuesday about the situation, Trudeau said he understands the European concerns relate primarily to AstraZeneca shots — one of the vaccines Health Canada is still reviewing — and that he is reassured Canada’s supply of incoming vaccines is in “good shape.”
“We will continue to work closely with Europe to ensure that we are receiving the vaccines that we have signed for, that we are due,” Trudeau told reporters outside his residence at Rideau Cottage on Tuesday.
“The preoccupation seems to be a little more around AstraZeneca and some of their European productions,” he added. “We do not have, at this point or in the near future, sourcing of AstraZeneca from the European manufacturers.”
The spectre of further vaccine supply disruptions comes after Canada’s scheduled delivery of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines was already knocked off course. The company was originally expected to ship 208,000 doses per week to Canada for the last three weeks of January, and then around 366,500 vaccines each week in February. But on Jan. 21, Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin — the head of Ottawa’s vaccine delivery campaign — said an expansion at Pfizer’s Belgium manufacturing plant meant deliveries would be significantly reduced.
Canada is receiving no Pfizer vaccines this week and is slated to get just 79,000 doses in the first week of February — roughly one fifth of what was first anticipated, although Trudeau and other government officials have stressed they still expect to receive the country’s expected slate of six million vaccines for the first quarter of the year.
MPs were slated to hold an emergency debate on Canada’s vaccine procurement in the House of Commons on Tuesday night, as opposition parties continue to accuse the Liberal government of failing to secure shots quick enough.
At Queen’s Park, the Ontario government expressed concern that the European Union could further curb shipments of vaccines. The current rollbacks have left the province scrambling to inoculate nursing home residents by reallocating doses intended for health-care workers and essential caregivers.
“It will put is in a very difficult circumstance,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott, who proposed pushing Pfizer to supply Canada from its central Michigan manufacturing plant if vaccines from its Belgium operation are blocked or reduced.
“If we don’t get it through Belgium, of course, we’re going to be pressing Pfizer and also asking the United States for access to some from their Kalamazoo facility,” she added during an appearance at Pearson airport with Premier Doug Ford.
“That’s the single, numberone job right now, making sure that we get the vaccines and we get them here as promptly as possible,” Ford said.
Canada has approved vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna and is slated to receive 80 million doses this year from those companies’ manufacturing facilities in Europe.
Christina Antoniou, Pfizer Canada’s director of corporate affairs, told the Star by email Tuesday that the company understands the EU proposal is “aimed at increasing transparency and does not intend to restrict global supply to patients.” But she added the company expects further details and that “it is critical that all governments do not impose export restrictions or other trade barriers that risk creating uncertainty and disrupting supply of vaccine to patients around the world.”