Canada announced on Monday the donation of 17.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine against covid-19 which remain in the North American country and which will be distributed through the Covax program of the World Health Organization (WHO) .
International Development Ministers Karina Gould and Government Procurement Ministers Anita Anand also said the government will match donations from Canadian individuals to UNICEF’s covid-19 vaccination campaign up to a maximum of 10 million Canadian dollars (8 million US dollars).
Canada has already committed CAD 440 million (US $ 353 million) to the Covax program – promoted by the WHO and the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) -, which aims to ensure global and equitable access to medicines anticovides.
The donation was announced after 79% of Canadians have already received at least one dose of the vaccine against the virus and 55% are on the full regimen.
Anand revealed at a press conference that the 17.7 million doses donated come from an advance purchase agreement that Canada made with AstraZeneca at the start of the pandemic and that they are no longer needed in the country.
The doses will be manufactured in the United States and will begin to be distributed in the coming weeks, added Anand, who did not specify the date or the countries to which they will be intended.
At the start of the pandemic, Canada secured the purchase of up to 440 million doses of covid-19 vaccine when the country’s total population is just over 37 million people.
Canada has so far approved the use in the country of vaccines produced by AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Canadian authorities have recommended the use of messenger RNA technology vaccines, which are those produced by Pfizer and Moderna.
Anand noted that Canada expects to receive 51 million doses of Pfizer and 44 million doses of Moderna by the end of September.
The main opposition party in Canada, the Conservative Party (PC), today criticized the AstraZeneca vaccine donation, saying it is a product that the country’s authorities “do not recommend to Canadians” .
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