The federal government says its shipment of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been delayed.
Pfizer is upgrading its European manufacturing capacity, leading to short-term delivery delays.
Canada’s Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand says they don’t expect the hold up to have a long-term impact.
“Pfizer believes that by the end of March it will be able to catch up, so that we will be on track for the total committed doses for Q1,” said Anand.
The minister says production setbacks are expected due to the global supply chain being stretched so thin due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In planning its vaccine rollout, the federal government accounted for potential holdups such as the Pfizer delay.
“Canada has in place seven bilateral agreements with leading vaccine manufacturers and developers in order to ensure diversity and flexibility when it comes to vaccine supply chains,” Anand said.
She said the government is still on track to meet its goal of supplying enough vaccines for everyone who wants one by September 2021.
