Posted at 1:00 p.m.
Hello, Mr Trudeau, my name is Iris Perrault, I am 11 years old and I live in Montreal. I am writing to tell you about the vaccine to fight COVID-19. I am writing to tell you that, yes, I understand that we Canadians need to be protected against COVID-19, but rather than giving us a fourth dose of vaccine, you should really help poorer countries so that they have access to a first dose.
In 2021, you promised to give COVAX 50 million doses of vaccine from your own contracts with manufacturers, and to pay an additional $150 million through a financial contribution to the COVAX system.
You kept more than 10 million doses in a warehouse for months, and almost as many in freezers, instead of sending them to places where they could have been used immediately.
Today, Canada donated only 12.7 million doses of vaccine, which is the equivalent of a quarter of what you promised. 1
Why are you waiting until the end of 2022 to send all the doses you promised to give to COVAX? The variants will continue to multiply and we will always go back to square one. We are always going to have to test vaccines, see if they are effective against future variants. We are always going to need more vaccines. So why wait if it always takes us back to square one?
I do everything Mr. Legault and the Director of Public Health ask me to do. I have almost no social life. I know we’re all in this together, but please, it’s up to you now to keep your promise.