Canada’s COVID-19 Vaccine Program Not Expected To Ramp Up Before April

OTTAWA — Canada’s vaccine deliveries are getting larger virtually each week however there gained’t be sufficient doses shipped to provinces and territories to “ramp up” the vaccination program for an additional few months, Maj. Gen. Dany Fortin outlined on Thursday.

Fortin stated deliveries of vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna will hit a million doses per week beginning in April.

The affirmation aligns with plans made public Thursday by the Ontario authorities that it gained’t be capable of broaden its vaccine program past the primary 4 precedence teams till April.

Thursday marked one month because the first Canadians acquired vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19, and greater than 443,000 individuals have now acquired not less than one dose. It’s estimated about 21,000 of these have additionally acquired their second dose.

Fortin, the vice-president of logistics on the Public Health Agency of Canada, stated by the tip of this week greater than 929,000 doses of vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna may have been delivered to provinces and territories. Shipments are rising virtually by the week, with 1.9 million anticipated in February and one other 2.7 million in March.

In April, Fortin stated, the mixed shipments of each will develop to about a million each week and can proceed to extend in order that 20 million complete doses will arrive between April and the tip of June.

“This will signal our transition into this ramp-up phase,” stated Fortin.

Canada is to get 80 million doses of each vaccines this yr which needs to be sufficient to vaccinate each Canadian. But it is usually reviewing two different potential vaccines already, together with one from Johnson & Johnson, which reported outcomes from early trials Thursday and expects to have closing outcomes prepared by early February on the newest.

Canada has a contract to purchase 10 million doses from Johnson & Johnson, which is the one vaccine that may very well be a single-dose supply.

Fortin stated he has instructed supply schedules for Johnson & Johnson however nothing will probably be confirmed until and till the vaccine will get accredited by Health Canada. 

The AstraZeneca vaccine, which might add one other 20 million doses to Canada’s complete, is the one different one pending approval for the time being. Canada has contracts to purchase vaccines from three different producers however none of these are near ending their scientific trials and haven’t submitted a request for approval to Health Canada but.

Fortin stated procurement and well being officers are working always with vaccine suppliers “to maximize the vaccine availability so that all Canadians, as many Canadians as possible can be immunized as rapidly as possible in the year.”

Most provinces proceed to focus their vaccination plans at the moment on long-term care residents and employees, front-line hospital workers and distant First Nations. 

Ontario expects to broaden its program in April, to seniors dwelling independently, lecturers, individuals working in meals processing amenities, and people with high-risk continual situations. It will begin with individuals over the age of 80, after which scale back the age by 5 years at a time.

A normal vaccination program for all others not lined in part two ought to be capable of roll out in August.

This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Jan. 14, 2021.