The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine stands in a tray before use at the Saskatoon Tribal Council run vaccination clinic inside SaskTel centre in Saskatoon on April 15. The Canadian government said that it expects to receive over 1.9 million COVID-19 vaccine doses this week. (The Canadian Press/Kayle Neis)

Canada set to receive almost two million COVID-19 vaccines this week

Canada is set to receive over 1.9 million COVID-19 vaccine doses this week according to vaccine shipment data from the Canadian government.

The federal government said that it is expecting more than one million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, 650,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine, as well as the first shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine which includes 300,000 doses.

Canada is not expecting any shipments of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine this week.

Last week, Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin had made the announcement that Canada would be receiving the first shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week and that the vaccines are expected to be delivered to the provinces in the beginning of May.

According to data from the Canadian government, as of April 17, 2021, 9,199,769 people, or 24.21 per cent of the population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 899,946 people or 2.37 per cent of the population has received two doses.

A man walks by a sign for a COVID-19 vaccination site in Montreal on April 25, 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues in Canada and around the world.(The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)

The Canadian government also responded to concerns regarding the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines that were produced at the Emergent BioSolutions facility in Baltimore.

The United State’s Food and Administration recent inspection of the facility noted multiple areas of concern, but Health Canada released a statement on Sunday to reassure Canadians that all AstraZeneca vaccines imported from that facility are safe and of high quality.

“Health Canada has verified that the 1.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine imported into Canada from this facility meet quality specifications,” Health Canada said in a statement. “The department reviewed test results of all vaccine lots that came into Canada, as well as the company’s quality control steps implemented throughout the manufacturing process to mitigate potential risks of contamination.”

Health Canada added that the Johnson & Johnson vaccines produced at that facility have not entered the country, and the vaccines that are expected to come this week do not come from that facility either.

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