Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he has received new guarantees that Canada鈥檚 COVID-19 vaccine contracts will be honoured.
The prime minister made the statement at a press conference in front of Rideau Cottage Tuesday (Jan. 26) morning, saying his discussion with Moderna鈥檚 CEO this morning made it 鈥渧ery, very clear鈥� that Canada will still receive its promised vaccines. Canada is expected to receive six million doses of both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines by the end of March, and Trudeau said that every Canadian can get vaccinated by September.
鈥淲e will continue to work very very closely鈥� to ensure that Canada gets all the doses we have contractually signed for,鈥� Trudeau said.
Trudeau鈥檚 statement came after he was asked about Europe鈥檚 warning to drug makers that it might impose export controls on European-made vaccine doses. Both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are manufactured in Europe. The world is already dealing with issues in vaccine production after Pfizer announced earlier this month that it would spend four weeks upgrading its facilities. However, the company said it would begin ramping up vaccine production in February.
鈥淲e do not expect that the European Union will restrict imports,鈥� said Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, at a press conference later Tuesday morning.
Health Canada is currently reviewing the AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines but there is no date on when approval could be expected. If approved, Canada has signed deals to get 20 million doses from AstraZeneca and 10 million from Johnson and Johnson.
As of Thursday, 779,025 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 340,200 doses of Moderna have been distributed to the province, which are in charge of vaccinating their populations. Currently, the government expects to get 340,200 doses of Moderna in Febuary, but very minimal deliveries of Pfizer until Feb. 15.
There have been at least 753,011 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 19,238 deaths in Canada as of Tuesday morning.
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