Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that the federal government has agreement to procure another 20 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. That brings the number of vaccine doses expected to arrive in Canada this year to 80 million. The expected vaccine is enough to vaccinate the whole population of Canada.
While talking about the development during a press conference outside Rideau Cottage, Trudeau said: “From our agreements with Pfizer and Moderna alone … we are on track to have every Canadian who wants a vaccine receive one by September.”
The news came at a time when Canada is experiencing post-holiday increase in new daily cases, and when provinces warn that they would be administering doses at a rate faster than they are being delivered.
While talking further, Trudeau said: “This will make sure [the provinces and territories] have the vaccines and information they need to keep rolling out doses as quickly as possible.”
Trudeau’s announcement came few days after Minister of Procurement, Anita Anand disclosed that the federal government had decided against exercising its option to purchase up to 16 million additional doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, though those doses wouldn’t have arrived until the end of this year.
