“We recognize the disadvantage Canada has of not having a domestic pharmaceutical industry capable of making the vaccines,” Trudeau told reporters at a press conference that morning.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Tuesday that Canadians will have to wait to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for longer than other countries.
“We recognize the disadvantage Canada has of not having a domestic pharmaceutical industry capable of making the vaccines,” Trudeau told reporters at a press conference that morning.
Trudeau clarified that Canada has "secured tens of million of doses of many different kinds of vaccines" including with AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Pfizer. “We’re expecting to start receiving those doses in the first few months of 2021.”
Months after his August announcement of a $120 million investment in a Montreal biomanufacturing company, Trudeau said that in the future, Canada will not be behind on vaccine development and procurement "because we never want to be caught short again, without the ability to support Canadians directly."
Public Procurement Minister Anita Anand claimed, however, that Canada has procured more doses per capita than any other country, and that Canada strategizing methods to distribute them including through the private sector and with the help of military coordination.
Canada, like most nations in the Northern Hemisphere, has seen rising cases of COVID-19 in recent months as the country braces for a second wave.
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