trudeau has previously said his government would have enough doses to vaccinate all canadians by the end of september.
procurement minister anita anand said it certainly looks possible they can beat that target, but the government is being cautious because the vaccines are not here yet.
“supply chains are still volatile, there is still a global competition for vaccines. we are watching our supply chains, extremely carefully, watching every plane land and every shipment get out to canadians.”
pfizer is actually expected to slow deliveries slightly in the first part of july and increased them in the last two weeks.
the news comes as the national advisory council on immunization, recommended thursday that people who received the astrazeneca vaccine should receive mrna vaccines, like pfizer and moderna for their second dose.
canada has contracts for more of the astrazeneca vaccine and anand said they would work with provinces and territories to determine their needs for additional doses, as well as look to make international donations.
both moderna and pfizer are now delivering doses earlier than expected in the initial contracts. anand said that is the result of ongoing negotiations with suppliers, but said in some cases companies are paid more for earlier deliveries.