Just when it appeared that Canada’s once-sluggish vaccination campaign was acquiring some momentum, a shipment of the Moderna vaccine that began to arrive this week is coming up short, according to Federal Procurement Minister Anita Anand.
Almost 600,000 doses short.
The facts: Canada received a shipment of 255,600 Moderna doses on Wednesday, but the rest of the delivery of 855,600 doses, due tomorrow, won’t be coming until the end of next week–“no later” than next Thursday, April 1, according to the company.
A FedEx plane carrying 255,600 doses of the Moderna COVID‑19 vaccine that came from Europe lands at Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Wednesday. The rest of the shipment came up short. Just under 600,000 doses due for delivery tomorrow won’t arrive until the end of next week–‘at the latest,’ according to Moderna. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)
“I spoke with executives from Moderna who informed us that, due to a backlog in its quality assurance process, the 590,400 doses that were due to arrive in Canada this weekend have been delayed by a few days,” Anand said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
In January, Moderna cut back on deliveries to Canada, cutting shipments by about 25 per cent.
In February, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the U.S. based company would meet its contractual obligation to deliver 2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses by the end of March.
FedEx workers load the 255,600 doses of the Moderna COVID‑19 vaccine that arrived at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Wednesday. Canadian health authorities continue to face hurdles to get the country’s vaccination campaign up and running smoothly. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)
Anand said this week’s delay was not caused by recent changes in European export controls and that the backlog will not affect Moderna’s next scheduled shipment of 855,600 doses, set for the week of April 5.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “concerned” by the threat of EU export restrictions but said his government would continue to work hard to ensure vaccine doses continue to flow into Canada.
Canadian officials say they still expect to receive a total of 3.2 million more doses next week–from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and the rescheduled Moderna shipment.
Government data shows that, as of Friday morning, 6,174,408 doses have been delivered across the country and that provinces and territories have used 74.18 per cent of their available vaccine supply.
On Thursday, Dr. Howard Njoo, deputy chief public health officer, said the country had surpassed the 10 per cent mark of residents over 18 having received at least one shot.
“To date, over 4.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Canada,” Njoo said.
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Howard Njoo is pictured at a press conference on Nov. 13, 2020.
(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)
“This marks an important milestone, with more than 11 per cent of eligible adult Canadians … having received at least one dose.”
Njoo said that includes 60 per cent of people older than 80 and 19 per cent between 70 and 79. More than 60 per cent of adults in the three territories have received their first shot.
As of Thursday evening, Canada had 38,922 active cases across the country.
As well on Thursday, Canada’s auditor-general released a report that concluded that the Public Health Agency of Canada “was not adequately prepared” for COVID-19 and “underestimated the potential impact of the virus at the outset of the pandemic.”
With files from The Canadian Press (Morgan Lowie), CBC News, The Associated Press, Reuters, RCI,
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