(Ottawa) Canada has delivered about a quarter of the vaccine doses it has pledged to provide to less wealthy countries and cannot say when more doses will be distributed.
In 2021, Canada had pledged to donate 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from its own contracts with manufacturers, and pay for at least 150 million more through financial contributions to the system. sharing of COVAX vaccines.
To date, Canada has donated 12.7 million doses and $ 545 million in cash to purchase 87 million more.
COVAX said it cannot yet release details of the doses purchased, as it is still negotiating prices with vaccine manufacturers.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada “continues to do more than our share”, but with no vaccine currently being manufactured in Canada, there is little the country can do to speed up donations.
Adam Houston, of Doctors Without Borders Canada, noted that Ottawa was very good at requiring faster deliveries when doses were destined for Canadians, but didn’t seem to put the same pressure on manufacturers to speed up deliveries when they were delivered to Canadians. are intended for donations.