Ottawa – Canada will receive 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday. The provinces and territories will have to hurry to put them into the arms of Canadians, as the majority of these doses will expire within a month.
Major General Danny Fortin, in charge of distributing vaccines in the country, indicated that 300,000 doses of these doses from the Serum Institute in India have an expiration date of April 2.
“Of course, that requires some quick administration from the provinces and territories when they will receive the vaccine,” Mr. Fortin commented at a news conference on Tuesday.
The federal government hasn’t been able to explain why these first doses expire so quickly, but that’s not because Canada is getting a discount.
It is not correct to say that there was an “adversary.” The Federal Minister for Services and Supply, Anita Anand, insisted when the question was posed to her.
Canada has ordered 24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 20 million of which will be shipped from the United States between April and September.
Two million doses of the global COVAX initiative made in South Korea are due to arrive before June. The other two million doses come from the Serum Institute of India. One million doses will be delivered in April and another 500,000 in May.
Who will get this vaccine?
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) previously advised against using this vaccine in persons over the age of 65. Thus, the question is whether these doses of AstraZeneca, which should be administered as quickly as possible, will be allocated to this segment of the population.
For its part, Public Health Canada remained cautious on Tuesday. The general manager is in the hands of the provinces and territories to determine whether younger residents, such as basic workers, should receive This vaccine In the coming weeks.
“This is an opportunity for groups of people who haven’t had their vaccine for a few months, usually, to receive it,” Dr. Theresa Tam admits.
On the Quebec side, we await, in the coming hours, the opinion of the Quebec Immunization Committee (CIQ) to determine who will be given the AstraZeneca vaccine. Daniel Barry, Vaccination Campaign Manager in Quebec, ensures that the doses are used before the expiration date.
“We will adapt our strategy. You know, we’ve been doing this since the start of the campaign. (…) Once we receive the opinion of the Quebec Immunization Commission, I guarantee that it will be managed and will be managed before the expiration date,” he said.
