Canadian-made doses on way, but not until end of the year
Ottawa makes deal with Novavax to build facility as pressure rises over delivery delays
On the same day Ontario was lamenting the impact of vaccine delivery delays on nursing homes, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tuesday that Canada will be able to produce a new COVID-19 vaccine this year.
But the news will do nothing to alleviate the provinces’ frustration with delays in the deliveries of two other vaccines that have already been authorized for use in Canada, or help Ottawa keep a pledge to provide vaccinations to all Canadians by September.
The new vaccine developed by the U.S.-based firm Novavax must first be approved by Health Canada. The National Research Council facility in Montreal that is expected to manufacture it is under construction, and scheduled to be completed by summer. That facility will then have to be certified by Health Canada.
So when might Canada once again have the capacity to manufacture vaccines that critics say it never should have lost?
“We expect by the end of the year to be in a position to be producing vaccines,” said François-Philippe Champagne, minister of innovation, science and industry. “Canadians want to have madein-Canada vaccines as quickly as possible, but they also want to make sure that the plant producing that is complying with all the health and safety protocols that are in place in Canada.”
Trudeau acknowledged that Canada needs “as much domestic capacity for vaccine production as possible,” a sentiment echoed by Premier Doug Ford.
“With the uncertainty surrounding a steady supply of vaccines, it’s clear we need to start production of COVID vaccines right here in Canada,” Ford said.
“We need to ensure that our ability to protect our citizens is not compromised by a lack of vaccine supply. We need a reliable source of vaccines in this country as soon as possible, and I will continue pushing for that.”
The Ford government said Tuesday it would be delaying the target date for first shots in all nursing homes and high-risk retirement homes by five days to Feb. 10, as deaths and infections mount.
Ford said the move was forced by later-than-expected and reduced vaccine shipments from manufacturers. About 1,200 residents of Ontario nursing homes have died since the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived in mid-December.
“I can’t express how frustrating that is,” Ford told a news conference, referring to issues with vaccine supply from a federal government that is being shorted by Pfizer and fellow manufacturer Moderna.
Ottawa has continued to maintain that all Canadians who want a COVID-19 vaccine will be able to get one by September and that it is still on track to receiving shipments of four million Pfizer doses and two million Moderna doses by the end of March.
Both vaccines are being manufactured in Europe, but production and delivery delays have raised the ire of premiers including Ford. Trudeau said he was reassured European Union export controls on COVID-19 vaccines will not be an issue for Canada’s deliveries.
Champagne said Tuesday’s announcement means Canada will be better prepared for the next health emergency. Once completed, the facility in Montreal will be able to produce two million vaccine doses per month.
One expert described it as “political neglect” on the part of both the Liberals and Conservatives that Canada’s capacity to produce vaccines was left to erode over the years.
“Canada should have been planning for this years earlier, and the fact that it took until now to get to the point where we’re going to be able to have some domestic capacity is really inexcusable in my view,” said Dr. Joel Lexchin, professor emeritus at the school of health policy and management at York University.
Ontario is getting 26,325 doses from Pfizer this week, 82 per cent less than the federal government contracted for with the manufacturer, and 63,400 doses from Moderna — but they are not coming until Friday or the weekend, making it impossible for the government to meet its Feb. 5 vaccination goal for care homes.
“We would have been finished by Friday if we had enough vaccines,” said retired general Rick Hillier, who is heading Ontario’s vaccination effort.
Critics have also pointed out the delay raises further questions about the wisdom of Ontario’s original plan to roll out shots on twin tracks to both front-line health-care workers and vulnerable seniors in care homes, only to be derailed by shortages from Pfizer as it retools a Belgium plant to boost production.
That prompted the switch to nursing and retirement homes as the sole priority.
“This further delay will only mean more suffering and death,” Liberal MPP and health critic John Fraser (Ottawa South) said as the province reported 35 more nursing-home residents passed away from COVID-19. Another 855 are fighting active cases of the virus and one-third of nursing homes have outbreaks.
Maryland-based Novavax applied Friday to Health Canada to start the regulatory review process for its experimental vaccine, after announcing a clinical trial in the United Kingdom showed it was more than 89 per cent effective against COVID-19.
The trial in the U.K. showed significant effectiveness against both the original virus behind COVID-19, and the variant known as B.1.1.7 that was first identified there. A smaller phase-two trial in South Africa showed the vaccine was also effective against a variant that first emerged there, known as B. 1.351.
In addition to the Novavax prospect, Trudeau said the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan is ready to produce about 40 million vaccine doses a year, though there is no contract yet in place for a particular vaccine to be made there.
Precision NanoSystems in Vancouver is building a new vaccine facility that will be the first in Canada capable of making the messenger RNA vaccines currently being used in Canada. That facility won’t be finished until 2023.
“The fact that it took until now to … be able to have some domestic capacity is really inexcusable.”
DR. JOEL LEXCHIN YORK UNIVERSITY