National COVID-19 vaccinations continue to dog the federal government.
Kenora MP Eric Melillo says the Conservatives and Canadians are still waiting to see a plan on the rollout of the vaccination.
Melillo stresses the government is failing to communicate and there is a lack of transparency that shows they probably don’t have a plan.
He says the situation is frustrating for everyone and the light of the end of the tunnel seems very far away for us right now with the failure to procure vaccines.
Melillo says they need the government to succeed and they want the government to succeed and he wants the Liberals to work with the Opposition instead of just reading their talking points.
With the country facing vaccines shortages, Melillo says the Prime Minister hasn’t been able to tell Canadians where he plans to make up those extra doses and it’s very concerning.
To hear more from Kenora MP Eric Melillo, visit the Audio link below:
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole is joining Melillo to voice his concerns and is calling for a COVID-19 vaccine to be made in Canada.
In an interview with Acadia News, O’Toole stated at the very least we should get a vaccine that is manufactured in North America.
He says it doesn’t make sense we’re getting the Pfizer vaccine from Europe when a plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan is making the exact same thing.
“This is the irony, we’re getting our Pfizer vaccine from a Belgium plant even though we border Michigan and you would think we could make a provision for that,” says an exasperated O’Toole.
“What’s frustrating is the vaccine is the way we can finally turn the corner in this pandemic. Get the economy going, get life a bit back to normal. So it’s delaying that return to normal because the Trudeau government was so slow.”
O’Toole adds that if we had our own vaccine, we wouldn’t be so dependant on other countries.
Justin Trudeau is dismissing concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and asking people not to worry.
The Prime Minister says he understands Canadians are tired of the pandemic and want to know when it will end, but maintains the country will get everyone vaccinated by September.
Trudeau says there is a lot of anxiety and a lot of noise going on right now but stresses the country is “very much on track.”
Trudeau adds that despite delays, Moderna and Pfizer have confirmed they will send a combined six million doses by the end of March.
He says that’s what the government predicted in November.
Trudeau says vaccines from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson could get Health Canada’s approval next.
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin is leading the country’s vaccine rollout program.
He says 79,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arrived this week, and they expect 70,000 more next week.
“Pfizer has indicated that it would be scaling up shipments starting in February to meet their target of four million doses by the end of March,” said Fortin.
The company is forecasting shipments of at least 335,000 doses the week of February 15 and 395,000 the last week of February, he said.
In early January, Pfizer announced it was temporarily cutting the number of vaccine doses being delivered as it expanded one of its facilities to meet global demand.
Meanwhile, Canada is seeing fewer doses of Modern’s COVID-19 vaccine than originally promised by the company.
Fortin said they were expecting 230,000 doses this week but only received 180,000, a decrease of just over 20%.
He said they also anticipate the next shipment, which is scheduled for February 22, will contain fewer than the 249,000 Moderna had promised.
“The quantities that we expect to receive remain to be confirmed by the manufacturer, so at this time I can’t really tell you what the quantity will be, but we do not expect to receive 249,000 at this time,” said Fortin.
Fortin said Moderna has not shared specifics of any challenges it may be facing.
“Moderna has indicated that they are in good faith trying their best to provide as many doses as possible as fairly and equitably to their market and this global demand,” he said.
Nearly 1.2-million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed to provinces and territories to date, according to Fortin.
(With Files From Tim Davidson, Colin Redston and Brad Perry)
