OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that while he is "concerned" that COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to Canada from India and the EU may be held back to prioritize domestic immunization campaigns, there is no indication yet that this country鈥檚 supply will be impacted.

"We share the urgency of all Canadians to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines. We are concerned with the new reports of restrictions," Trudeau said in a response to a question from Conservative MP and health critic Michelle Rempel Garner asking whether he could 鈥渁bsolutely guarantee鈥 none of Canada鈥檚 vaccines will be held back.

"We will be continuing to work with our counterparts, including direct contact from me to the highest levels of the European Commission, in order to ensure that Canada's supply of vaccines is not in danger, is not interrupted," said the prime minister.

Trudeau said that work is currently underway to ensure that the doses Canada is contractually obligated to receive, are sent. Canada is entirely reliant on COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by international pharmaceutical companies as there is currently not adequate domestic production capacity in this country.

According to a spokesperson for the European Commission, the new export controls are aimed at making sure Europe has it鈥檚 鈥渄ue share鈥 of vaccines, noting the EU is currently the main exporter of vaccines.

The move has been seen as likely most notably impacting Britain, which has a higher vaccination rate than some other nearby nations.

"We have been discussing what more we can do to ensure a reciprocally beneficial relationship between the U.K. and EU on COVID-19. Given our interdependencies, we are working on specific steps we can take鈥 to create a win-win situation and expand vaccine supply for all our citizens," said . 鈥淚n the end, openness and global cooperation of all countries will be key to finally overcome this pandemic and ensure better preparation for meeting future challenges.鈥

Vaccine exports from the EU to Canada鈥攚hich currently include shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the two major providers鈥攁re subject to authorization requests and the European Commission has indicated those authorizations should continue to be granted so long as they do not pose a threat to the security of supply of vaccines in the EU.

In an interview on 麻豆影视 Channel鈥檚 Power Play on Wednesday Export Promotion and International Trade Minister Mary Ng said she and other relevant ministers have "repeatedly" received reassurances from their EU counterparts that Canada鈥檚 vaccine shipments are on track.

"The reason that we continue to reach out and be on the phones at all levels 鈥 the government, as well as myself and my colleagues 鈥 is precisely so that we can stay on top of this file. It鈥檚 to make sure that the urgency and priority of getting vaccines into Canada is a top [priority]," she said. "We don鈥檛 stop, we don鈥檛 stop at all."

Canada is scheduled to receive millions of doses from Pfizer and Moderna over the coming weeks as the national vaccine effort begins to shift into high gear. A delay or gap in new shipments would significantly impact the effort, which now includes mass vaccination sites across the country.

Despite previously stating that vaccine export concerns don鈥檛 fall within her purview, Procurement Minister Anita Anand was grilled about Canada鈥檚 vaccine uncertainty and dependence on international sources during House of Commons committee testimony on Wednesday.

Anand touted Canada鈥檚 relationship with the EU, which she said has guaranteed shipments from there thus far.

"We have managed despite the EU transparency mechanisms to continue to get our vaccines out of Europe because of our diplomatic efforts," she told members of the government operations and estimates committee.

Asked whether there鈥檚 anything written in the government鈥檚 vaccine contracts that protects Canada from export disruptions, Anand repeated that the details of Ottawa鈥檚 contracts with vaccine producers are "confidential."

Further complicating things, , India is putting a temporary hold on major exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine being produced at the Serum Institute in order to meet the demand within India as cases there are on the rise.

Canada has already received 500,000 doses from the Serum Institute, with another 1.5 million doses expected to arrive over April and May.

Ng said like the vaccine contracts concerning shipments out of the EU, she doesn鈥檛 have reason to believe Canada鈥檚 purchased doses from India are in jeopardy of being delayed.

"There鈥檚 one message I want to send to Canadians, it鈥檚 a reassuring one," she told Power Play host Evan Solomon. "We are absolutely on top of this. We are working very, very hard."

Anand echoed this sentiment during committee, stating she spoke with the High Commissioner of India to Canada Wednesday and was reassured the contractual agreements would be upheld.

As well, a deal with the United States for 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine coming from a U.S. plant through a dose-sharing deal, has still not been formally announced. Neither has the government presented a delivery schedule for the 20 million AstraZeneca-Oxford shots Canada has a contract for, leaving whether and when Canada might be seeing more AstraZeneca shots鈥攁 vaccine approved in February鈥 largely in limbo.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden was asked whether he will increase the number of doses he plans to send to Canada, as AstraZeneca has yet to be approved in the U.S. and has faced skepticism from medical authorities in that country.

"That depends on鈥 what is finally approved," Biden said. 

With files from 麻豆影视' Sarah Turnbull