“The negotiations are taking place on the basis that everything is on the table and that we do not rule out any option,” said Mme Anand.
We need to make sure that we communicate to the manufacturers of the vaccines that we are prepared to do whatever is necessary to get our hands on the vaccines as quickly as possible.
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Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement
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Moreover, if Canada was able to get its hands on some 424,000 doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine in December, it is largely because the federal government agreed to pay “fair market value” at that time. there, she stressed.
So far, the Trudeau government has refused to disclose how much it costs to purchase the millions of doses of vaccine that will be distributed to the provinces. According to the CTV network, the government has estimated at one billion dollars the bill related to the purchase of the doses necessary to immunize the Canadian population.
Major General Dany Fortin, who is the vice-president of logistics and operations at the Public Health Agency of Canada and head of vaccine distribution, for his part indicated that we should receive about 4 million doses of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and two million doses of Moderna vaccine by the end of March for a total of six million doses.
By the end of January, we should receive 1.3 million doses of both vaccines and then 1.9 million additional doses in February.
According to Major General Fortin, the provinces will be able to plan their vaccination campaign with the certainty of the number of doses they will get over the next two months.
Remember that the vaccines produced by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna require two doses which must be administered at three week intervals.
In the morning, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau maintained that Canada is doing everything it can to get “as many vaccines as possible, as quickly as possible”.
Alors que les préoccupations sur l’approvisionnement en vaccins sont toujours vives, M. Trudeau a semblé vouloir calmer le jeu en conférence de presse à Rideau Cottage, au lendemain d’une 24e rencontre téléphonique avec ses homologues des provinces et des territoires au cours de laquelle l’enjeu de la vaccination a dominé les échanges.
« On est en temps de crise, et les Canadiens veulent des résultats. Je les comprends et je leur promets qu’on travaille sans relâche. On continue de collaborer – tous les ordres de gouvernements ensemble – comme une grande équipe », a-t-il affirmé.
« Plus que jamais, c’est le temps de rassembler nos forces pour battre la COVID-19 une bonne fois pour toutes. […] Our government has worked tirelessly on vaccines for months. The distribution process is straightforward, ”said Justin Trudeau.
The Prime Minister has stung several of his provincial and territorial counterparts by saying he is frustrated that the vaccination campaign is not going more smoothly and that about half of the doses of the vaccine are lying dormant in freezers.
His exit earned him a rebuff from François Legault, Doug Ford and Brian Pallister, among others.
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