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Vaccine CEO ‘very, very clear’ that Canada’s contracts will be honoured: Trudeau

Trudeau says he spoke to Moderna CEO on the morning of Jan. 26
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FILE – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers his opening remarks at a news conference outside Rideau cottage in Ottawa, Tuesday, January 19, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he has received new guarantees that Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine contracts will be honoured.

The prime minister made the statement at a press conference in front of Rideau Cottage Tuesday (Jan. 26) morning, saying his discussion with Moderna’s CEO this morning made it “very, very clear” that Canada will still receive its promised vaccines. Canada is expected to receive six million doses of both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines by the end of March, and Trudeau said that every Canadian can get vaccinated by September.

“We will continue to work very very closely… to ensure that Canada gets all the doses we have contractually signed for,” Trudeau said.

Trudeau’s statement came after he was asked about Europe’s warning to drug makers that it might impose export controls on European-made vaccine doses. Both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are manufactured in Europe. The world is already dealing with issues in vaccine production after Pfizer announced earlier this month that it would spend four weeks upgrading its facilities. However, the company said it would begin ramping up vaccine production in February.

“We do not expect that the European Union will restrict imports,” said Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, at a press conference later Tuesday morning.

Health Canada is currently reviewing the AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines but there is no date on when approval could be expected. If approved, Canada has signed deals to get 20 million doses from AstraZeneca and 10 million from Johnson and Johnson.

As of Thursday, 779,025 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 340,200 doses of Moderna have been distributed to the province, which are in charge of vaccinating their populations. Currently, the government expects to get 340,200 doses of Moderna in Febuary, but very minimal deliveries of Pfizer until Feb. 15.

There have been at least 753,011 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 19,238 deaths in Canada as of Tuesday morning.

READ MORE: Pfizer vaccine shipments slowing down for constructions; feds still expect 4M doses by end of March

READ MORE: Trudeau teases stricter travel measures; Canadians flying to U.S. now need COVID test


@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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