OTTAWA -- Canada will not be receiving any shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine doses next week, which the federal government says will be the hardest hit the country gets during a month-long shortage in deliveries from the drug giant.
The news Canada will be experiencing a 鈥渢emporary鈥� delay in shipments resulting in an average weekly reduction of 50 per cent of coming doses due to the pharmaceutical company鈥檚 expansion plans at its European manufacturing facility came on Friday.
On Tuesday, Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin who is leading Canada鈥檚 logistical rollout revealed that in reality, while this week鈥檚 shipment includes 82 per cent of what was originally planned, next week no new deliveries of doses will be coming to this country.
That means over the next two weeks Canada is set to receive just over 171,000 vaccine doses instead of the more than 417,000 planned before Pfizer announced its delay.
鈥淣ext week's deliveries have been deferred by Pfizer in their entirety,鈥� Fortin said, adding that the company just confirmed the amounts Tuesday morning. He said deliveries will start back up in the first two weeks of February.
鈥淏ut those numbers remain to be confirmed by Pfizer Canada,鈥� Fortin said, adding that because the shipments come in trays with 975 doses, some provinces will feel the impact more than others, but the federal government will strive to keep the future allotments as proportional per capita as possible.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand said in an interview on CTV鈥檚 Power Play that Canada is still waiting for the future delivery schedule from Pfizer.
The shipment shortage has strained provincial rollout campaigns鈥� plans are being made to hold off on giving first doses to more people and to delay the administration of second doses for some鈥攁nd has put the federal government on the defensive.
In his Rideau Cottage address on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought to reassure people about having access to considerably fewer Pfizer shots over the next few weeks, saying that 鈥渄oses are coming,鈥� and vaccinations for long-term care home residents and health-care workers continue.
Trudeau said he knows there is 鈥渁 lot of work still to do,鈥� but the overall goal of vaccinating six million prioritized people by March, and then everyone who wants to be by the end of September 2021, remains on track despite this 鈥渞oadblock.鈥�
Asked why he hasn鈥檛 tried to put more direct political pressure himself on Pfizer to rectify Canada鈥檚 complete absence of doses next week, Trudeau said the company remains contractually obligated to provide Canada with the doses purchased.
The federal government also faced questions about why it appears Pfizer is not treating all countries equally as promised when it comes to scaling back the size of shipments, with some European countries reporting their deliveries will not be as severely impacted as Canada鈥檚.
Neither Trudeau or Anand could offer an explanation, with the prime minister stating that in his weekend call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel she too raised that she was being criticized for her country鈥檚 rollout.
鈥淪he sort of complained to me that every day she gets it from the German media that they're not doing as well as Canada. I think a lot of people are comparing stories from country to country, and trying to figure out how we can all move quicker,鈥� Trudeau said.
According to 麻豆影视鈥� vaccine tracker, Canada is immunizing people faster than Germany by a small margin.
Anand said the situation with Pfizer鈥檚 delay is 鈥渧ery disappointing,鈥� and she 鈥渟pent the weekend on the phone with Pfizer executives,鈥� pushing for Canada to return to the regular delivery schedule as soon as possible.
She said Canada 鈥渋nsisted鈥� on equitable treatment, which she said Pfizer assured her Canada is receiving.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday he was 鈥渧ery angry鈥� about the situation and if it was up to him, he鈥檇 be 鈥渙n that phone call every single day,鈥� with Pfizer. He then floated that in the interim, President-Elect Joe Biden should send Canada one million doses from the U.S.-based Pfizer facility, which is not experiencing delays.
Anand said Tuesday in response to Ford鈥檚 suggestion that all the vaccines being made at the U.S. plant will be distributed within Canada but she will 鈥渃ontinue to press all levers.鈥�
In an interview on CTV鈥檚 Question Period that aired on Sunday, Anand said she鈥檇 heard concerns from some vaccine companies about lengthy delays between vaccine doses, as they go beyond what their clinical-trial-based recommendations are.
In an email, Pfizer said some provinces decision to delay the administration of their second doses was not a factor in the current delivery schedule for Canada, stating that the decision to scale-up at the Belgium plant is so that by the end of 2021 the pharmaceutical giant can deliver 2 billion doses worldwide.
鈥淧fizer is鈥痺orking closely with鈥痑ll Governments鈥痮n allocation of doses.鈥� While the precise percentage allocation may fluctuate, we anticipate that it will balance out by the end of Q1 2021.鈥疨fizer remains dedicated to helping each country meet the vaccination needs of its citizens without compromising our highest safety and quality standards,鈥� said spokesperson Christina Antoniou.
Canada was planning on receiving between between now and the end of February, as part of the plan to have six million doses total from Pfizer and Moderna by the end of March when Phase 1 ends. Officials continue to state that once next week passes, deliveries will ramp-up and make up for the loss with larger batches arriving.
Fortin said Tuesday that Canada鈥檚 Moderna deliveries will continue as planned. These vaccines are delivered in a three week cycle, with the next shipment of 230,400 doses coming the first week of February.
Anand said come the spring Canadians will see a 鈥渄ramatic increase in vaccine deliveries,鈥� but cautioned about 鈥渁dditional supply challenges along the way.鈥�
鈥淭his is precisely why we have multiple agreements in place with multiple manufacturers,鈥� Anand said.
In a statement, Conservative Leader Erin O鈥橳oole said he is 鈥渄eeply frustrated by the government鈥檚 on-going failure to procure and deliver vaccines for Canadians.鈥�
He is calling on the Liberals to deliver an 鈥渆mergency plan,鈥� and disclose Canada鈥檚 precedence in comparison to other countries鈥� vaccine delivery contracts.
鈥淲e cannot accept this kind of failure, not with so much at stake,鈥� O鈥橳oole said.
So far, more than 604,000 Canadians have received their first dose of one of the two approved COVID-19 vaccines, and nearly 37,200 have received both shots required in the two-dose regimen.
