2020-10-23 from theglobeandmail.com
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cautioned Canadians that a successful COVID-19 vaccine likely won’t be ready this year or even early in the new year as he announced an additional $214-million in spending on Canadian-made vaccines Friday.
“We are hopeful the vaccines will arrive yesterday, but they won’t. There’s still a number of more months of work to do,” Mr. Trudeau told reporters. “I think that reasonable expectations is that vaccines could start to arrive some time in the new year, but even then, there will be smaller amounts of doses that will have to be distributed to priority populations.”
Mr. Trudeau said vulnerable populations and front-line workers will be given priority access to the vaccines once they are ready.
“We have experts busy evaluating exactly how and where and in which way to distribute these vaccines. We will of course be working closely with provinces and territories to ensure that it’s done the right way,” he said.
Friday’s funding announcement included up to $173-million for the Quebec biopharmaceutical Medicago Inc., including support to create a production facility in Quebec City. The Quebec company has also reached an agreement with Ottawa to supply up to 76 million doses of its vaccine, should it be approved for use.
Read more here.