TORONTO - Canada has finally revealed what it will do with a portion of the country's large H1N1 vaccine surplus, announcing it will give five million doses to the World Health Organization.
In a statement issued Thursday, Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said the country would also give the global health agency $6 million to support its ongoing pandemic relief efforts.
"We are fortunate to be in a position to contribute H1N1 flu vaccine to the WHO to help developing countries now that we have met Canada's immediate needs," Aglukkaq said.
It has been clear for weeks that the country would have a large vaccine surplus. But federal officials have been coy about what would be done with the excess, insisting a decision would be made when Canada's needs had been met.
It has seemed for awhile that condition had been reached. Demand for vaccine has plummeted across the country since mid to late December, a reflection of the fact that there is little H1N1 activity anywhere in the country. The second wave of H1N1 activity in Canada peaked in November.
The most recent assessment from the Public Health Agency of Canada, posted last Friday on its website, showed most parts of the country have either sporadic flu activity or none at all. No region reported widespread activity.
The Public Health Agency estimates about 45 per cent of Canadians have been vaccinated. That is one of the highest rates - if not the highest rate - in the world. Many developed countries have seen low demand for vaccine, which in many cases only became available after H1N1 activity had peaked.
But even with that level of uptake, Canada has a large amount of unused vaccine on its hands.
The country bought 50.6 million doses of vaccine, the bulk of which was made by GlaxoSmithKline at its facility in Ste-Foy, Que. A small shipment - 200,000 doses - of vaccine made by Australian producer CSL was purchased from the Australian government.
The large order was placed at a time when it was thought two doses per person might be needed.
The federal government has not released an official estimate of the vaccine surplus. But it is likely to be in the neighbourhood of 30 million doses.
Earlier this month, Aglukkaq announced Canada was lending five million doses of vaccine to Mexico, which wanted to vaccinate quicker than its delivery schedule would allow. That deal requires Mexico to replace the doses by the end of March.
