Canada is expected to witness an influx of new COVID-19 vaccine doses this week, as 3.3 million doses are due for delivery from various pharmaceutical companies in the coming days.
The expected delivery would be the largest weekly delivery into Canada since the advent of the pandemic. This will be made possible by the planned shipments from three different sources.
The Public Health Agency of Canada disclosed that Pfizer and BioNTech would ship almost 1.2 million doses this week, as both companies keep producing vaccine shots rapidly.
Also, the government is expecting around 1.5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the United States which will be conveyed by truck and represent the first to arrive from the US.
With the exception of 500,000 AstraZeneca doses that came from India recently, Canada has been getting it’s vaccines from Europe.
Also, the government said Moderna will fulfil its promise to deliver 600,000 shots this week, though the delivery is about a week later than expected.
According to plan, Moderna was supposed to have delivered around 846,000 doses to Canada last week, but a fraction was delivered due to what Moderna and government both described as a backlog in the company’s quality-assurance testing.
The government of Canada is also watching as the European Union and India consider putting restrictions on exporting vaccines manufactured within their borders.
Minister of Public Procurement, Anita Anand said: “We are closely monitoring the global environment, including export restrictions in a number of jurisdictions.
“Our officials across numerous departments as well as our suppliers are working ahead of time to ensure that Canada’s vaccines continue to arrive in our country.”
