Canada is facing a delay in the delivery of vaccines because of production issues experienced by Pfizer in Europe. This is according to Canadian health officials who were addressing the press on Friday. This is despite the government’s assurances that most of its citizens will have received the vaccine by fall.
Prime Minister Justine Trudeau sought to assure the public that his administration was doing everything possible to have the vaccines delivered on time. He however admitted to the challenges being faced by the production company, Pfizer-BioNTech.
Trudeau said that his country was lucky because they have a highly diversified vaccine portfolio. He said that the seven bilateral agreements the country has signed with different countries will bring about flexibility when it comes to supply chains.
“I want to assure each one of you that this supply hitch isn’t going to affect our target of getting every Canadian who wants to be vaccinated by September. It is true we have a problem but that doesn’t change our plans in any way” said Trudeau outside Rideau Cottage.
Anita Anand, Canada’s procurement minister said on Friday said that the production issues being experienced will briefly reduce the number of promised vaccine dosages. She said that the problem was not unique to Canada as other countries who had ordered the vaccine from Pfizer had been affected.
Although the production company had assured Canada that will deliver have delivered 4 million dosses by the close of March, Anand remained skeptical and said that was no longer a guarantee.
“This is quite unfortunate. But it is beyond our control. Such delays are not new, especially when the whole world is facing a health crisis. We are going to explore more options and ensure that our people receive the vaccines as we had planned” said Anand during a press conference.
There was no clear reason as to why Pfizer has delayed in delivering the vaccines as scheduled. According to the information displayed on the government’s website, over 200,000 doses of vaccines were expected from Pfizer after every two weeks. So far the country has been supplied with approximately 380,000 doses.
Christina Antoniou, Pfizer’s spokeswoman in Canada said that one of the company’s production facilities in Belgium was going through some modifications meant to increase the number of doses being produced in a day. She said that Pfizer is hoping to double its production capacity in the coming weeks.
“Pfizer Canada is still committed to delivering all the vaccine dosages by the end of March despite the temporary delays being experienced,” said Antoniou.
The news comes at a time the government projected that the number of coronavirus cases was set to go higher than the numbers seen witnessed during the first wave. Many people have faith that the vaccine will bring to an end a virus that has already claimed hundreds of thousands of lives across the world.
Dr. Theresa Tam, the Chief Public Health Officer urged the public not to let lower their guard because the danger is still lurking.
