Vials of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines (Canadian Press)

By Justin Goulet with files from Canadian Press

Canada’s Moderna vaccine supply slashed in half through April, more Pfizer doses on the way

Apr 16, 2021 | 10:20 AM

OTTAWA, ON – Canada’s Procurement Minister says the country’s incoming supply of COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna will be cut in half through the rest of April.

Anita Anand explained that Moderna will ship 650,000 doses to Canada by the end of the month.

That’s instead of the expected 1.2 million doses. Moderna said the limited supply is a result of a “slower than anticipated ramp up” of its production capacity.

Anand also remarked that Moderna told Canada that one to two million doses of the 12.3 million scheduled for delivery in the second quarter may be delayed until the third quarter.

She added that Ottawa will continue to press the drug-maker to fulfill its commitments.

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PFIZER BOOST

It’s not all bad news for Canada, though, as it was announced Friday that the country has secured a new deal with Pfizer for eight million additional doses of its vaccine.

The new agreement will see Canada receive four million added doses in May, with another two million in June and two million in July.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “for next month alone, this will come out to about double the Pfizer doses we were originally expecting.”

“All told, we’ll be receiving eight million doses in May and almost 12 million in June from Pfizer alone. That’s a lot of numbers so here’s the bottom line – more doses arriving sooner means more people getting the vaccine faster.”

RED CROSS ASSISTANCE

Meanwhile, Trudeau said on Friday that the federal government will be deploying the Canadian Red Cross to help Ontario with its mobile vaccination teams and send aid to hospitals and long-term care homes.