Canada to Donate Nearly 18 Million AstraZeneca Doses to Covax
July 12 2021 - 2:00PM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Vieira
Canada said Monday it would be donating to the Covax global
initiative the nearly 18 million doses of AstraZeneca PLC's
Covid-19 vaccine that it has yet to take delivery of.
The move comes a month after a national advisory panel on
vaccines recommended people who received an initial dose of
AstraZeneca should get a messenger RNA vaccine -- as produced by
Pfizer Inc. in partnership with BioNTech SE, and Moderna Inc. -- as
a second dose, citing better immune responses. The panel also said
the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna were "preferred" over
AstraZeneca.
Officials added the move was possible because of the success to
date in its vaccination rollout after a slow start. Canada leads
the world in administering at least one vaccine dose to its
population, and officials said Monday that roughly half of people
12 years and older are now fully vaccinated.
Canada agreed to purchase 20 million doses of AstraZeneca's
Covid-19 vaccine. To date, Canada has distributed just over 3
million AstraZeneca doses -- with some of those doses originating
from the Serum Institute of India, in a separate deal, and from the
Covax initiative, after Canada exercised an option to purchase
doses from Covax.
Covax is the global initiative that aims to supply shots to poor
and middle-income countries. The Liberal government was criticized
for exercising this option -- which is allowed for wealthy
countries, like Canada, that make financial contributions.
Canada's Procurement Minister, Anita Anand, said the 17.7
AstraZeneca doses it is donating will be from the drug maker's U.S.
plants, with shipments to Covax beginning in the coming weeks
although final logistical details need to be finalized.
"The decision to donate was made after we heard from the
provinces and territories that the demands for AstraZeneca vaccines
within their jurisdictions had been met," she said. Ms. Anand said
that, based on current commitments from Pfizer-BioNTech and
Moderna, Canada is expected to have taken delivery of 68 million
doses of vaccines.
Karina Gould, Canada's International Development Minister, said
AstraZeneca remains in high demand around the world.
Canada has authorized four Covid-19 vaccines for use in the
country: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson &
Johnson. It has yet to distribute any doses of the single-shot
J&J Covid-19 vaccine.
Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 12, 2021 13:54 ET (17:54 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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