TRUDEAU RESPONDS TO CRITICISM OVER COVID-19 VACCINE CANADA'S TO RECEIVE FROM COVAX INITIATIVE
Feb 05, 2021
By Bob Komsic
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The Trudeau government continues finding itself on the defensive during the COVID vaccine rollout.
This time over the doses Canada’s to receive in the first round of delivery from the global vaccine sharing initiative COVAX; with most of the harshest criticism coming from overseas.
However, the prime minister points out as one of the more than 180 country’s involved in COVAX, and being one of the leading donors, Canada is entitled to some doses.
”When wealthier countries invest in COVAX, half of that funding is for doses at home, and the other half is to buy doses for low and middle-income countries,” Justin Trudeau reminds critics.
”In other words, our contribution was always intended to access vaccine doses for Canadians as well as to support lower income countries.”
Through COVAX, the prime minister says Canada will receive at least 1.9-million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine; pending regulatory approval, before the end of June.
Trudeau says that’s in addition to the 20-million doses Canada pre-ordered from AstraZeneca … that he believes should arrive before the end of the same month.
But later a federal official said that’s not correct, that the 20-million doses are a combination from AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Novavax, which are still awaiting regulatory approval.