Trudeau says Canada could produce COVID vaccines

Canada could potentially produce vaccines against the coronavirus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday, as his government faces uncertainty over doses from Europe.

The North American nation has no domestic production, but Trudeau hopes to use vaccines made in Europe to vaccinate all Canadians by September. The president reiterated on Tuesday that the leaders of the European Union, including its president, assured him that they would honor Canada’s contracts with Pfizer and Moderna. The EU has spoken of tightening controls on vaccine exports.

“Europe will continue to protect Canada’s supply,” Trudeau said.

Canada wanted its vaccines shipped from Europe rather than the United States – its closest neighbor and ally – because Europe was seen as more trustworthy than the government of former US President Donald Trump.

Trudeau noted that Canada needs the largest national vaccine production capacity as soon as possible, because with the new variants, it’s unclear what the future will look like in a year or two.

Trudeau said two companies – Precision NanoSystems and Novavax – will eventually produce COVID-19 vaccines in Canada.

He added that they have signed a memorandum of understanding with Maryland-based Novavax and that if it receives approval from the Canadian Department of Health, tens of millions of doses of its vaccine will be manufactured in the country.

Subsequently, Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne said that by the end of the year Canada will be able to start producing the vaccines and could manufacture 2 million doses per month if the vaccine and the plant They are approved by the national health. regulator.

Trudeau noted that Vancouver-based Precision NanoSystems will also build a plant that can manufacture up to 240 million doses of vaccine per year.

“I am happy that we are finally starting to do this,” said Doug Ford, Premier of the Province of Ontario.