Government says COVID-19 vaccine shipments to Canada won't be affected by possible EU restrictions - CBC.ca

The federal government says it does not believe COVID-19 vaccine shipments to Canada would be affected by export restrictions being considered by the European Union.

A report in the New York Times says the EU is finalizing emergency legislation that would give it broad powers to curb exports of COVID-19 vaccines for the next six weeks, as part of its response to supply shortages at home.

The report says that would make it harder for pharmaceutical companies producing COVID-19 vaccines in the EU to export them.

In an emailed statement, the press secretary for Mary Ng, minister of small business, export promotion and international trade, said Ng's counterparts have assured her that these measures will not affect vaccine shipments to Canada.

Youmy Han said the federal government has been in constant contact with its counterparts in the EU and its member states at all levels of government.

She said Canada will continue to work with the EU and its member states to ensure that Canada's essential health and medical supply chains remain open and resilient.

"We share the urgency of Canadians to ensure access to life-saving vaccines as rapidly as possible, and our government is operating with this sense of urgency every single day," Han wrote late Tuesday.

"Our expected shipments of vaccines have been arriving in Canada and we are on track to receive 9.5 million doses by the end of March."

In a separate story published today, Reuters reported that India has put a temporary hold on major exports of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India (SII) to meet demand at home as infections rise.

The news agency quoted sources saying the move also would affect supplies to the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility through which more than 180 countries are expected to get doses.

It's not clear whether this will affect shipments to Canada, which is expecting to receive 1.5 million doses from the Serum Institute by the end of May. A shipment of 500,000 doses of that vaccine, branded Covishield, arrived in March; those doses are being administered by provinces and territories. 

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2021-03-24 17:00:46Z
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