Canada scheduled to get 2.3 million doses of Pfizer vaccine this week

Canada's federal government has announced that it is expected to get 2.3 million COVID-19 doses of Pfizer this week. The government has already received 67 million vaccine doses, which is enough to fully vaccinate all Canadian residents. However, public health officials fear a potential fourth wave.

Canada's top physician Dr. Theresa Tam warned that the country might head towards a fourth wave of COVID-19 if restrictions are lifted before vaccination numbers increase. It is why Canada now has scheduled new COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine shipments – public health officials want to be ready to help as many Canadians as possible.

According to CTV, Tam has stated that an updated national model for the pandemic trajectory suggests that the Delta variant of COVID-19 could drive up infection rates.

"The trajectory will depend on ongoing increase in fully vaccinated coverage and the timing, pace and extent of reopening," Tam said. "While some resurgence is expected as measures are eased, this updated model shows that if we maintain current levels of community-wide contacts, we would expect to see a modest increase in cases."

Despite this, however, Tam has stated that Canada as a whole has made "great progress" on vaccinating those who are eligible. As of Friday, Canada recorded 80.3 percent of residents having gotten at least the first dose of the vaccine and 63.7 percent who have gotten both.