Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken to Pfizer CEO, Albert Bourla on phone. Trudeau spoke to the CEO the same day Pfizer notified Canada that its COVID-19 vaccines shipments delays would be worse than initially thought.
Not too long ago, Major-General Dany Fortin, the military commander that oversees the vaccine logistics for the Public Health Agency of Canada, said a factory expansion taking place at Pfizer’s Belgium plant was going to stall production, thereby cutting Canada’s deliveries over four weeks by 50 percent.
Meanwhile, Pfizer hopes it would be able to ship hundreds of millions additional doses worldwide throughout the rest of this year.
Fortin said Canada would get 80 percent of the initially expected doses very soon while half of the promised deliveries would arrive in the first two weeks of February.
He later explained that the doses to be delivered in the first week of February would be 79,000, which equals one-fifth of what was expected initially.
Trudeau has been under severe pressure to put a call through to Bourla when the delayed doses compelled provinces to put vaccination appointments on hold and reconsider second doses’ timing.
Fortin revealed that some provinces may be affected badly than others due to the limits on the way the Pfizer doses can be separated for shipping. The vaccine is such a delicate one, as such, it must be preserved via ultra frozen until shortly before it is injected. The vaccine is packed and shipped directly to provincial vaccine sites in specialized coolers, with GPS thermal trackers.
