Government secures another 20M COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer

Canada has reached an agreement to purchase another 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said today.

That doubles the number of dosesthe country has locked in from the U.S. pharmaceutical giant and brings the total numberscheduled to arrive this yearfrom two approved vaccine makers to 80 million enough to vaccinate the entire Canadian population according to the requiredtwo-dose regimen.

"From our agreements with Pfizer and Moderna alone ... we are on track to have every Canadian who wants a vaccine receive one by September," Trudeau said at a press conference outside Rideau Cottage.

"We're going to continue working to see if we can get a few more doses, because all Canadians want this to move forward as quickly as possible."

Canada has now committed to buying 40 million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech and 40 million doses fromModerna, with the option to purchase another 36 million from Pfizer-BioNTech if it chooses. Six million are expected to arrive by the end of March enough to immunize 3 million people.

Trudeau's announcement comes days after Procurement Minister Anita Anandsaidthe federal government had chosen not to exercise its option to buy up to 16 million more doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine.At a separate news conference, Anand said she chose not to purchase those remaining doses because Modernacouldn't guarantee delivery before September.

As of Monday night, more than 380,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine hadbeen administered in Canada out of 548,000 doses distributed to provinces and territories, according to a tally by CBC News.

Pressure builds to speed up vaccine delivery

The federal government has come under enormous pressure to speed up the delivery of vaccines as Canada experiences a post-holiday surge in cases and deaths, and as fears rise about the spread of a coronavirusstrainfirst identified in the U.K. that is more transmissible than other variants.

Severalprovinces are warning thatthey are administering doses faster than they are being delivered. Premier Jason Kenney of Alberta said Monday that Alberta could exhaust its vaccine supply as early as next week, while B.C.'s Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henrysaid the province would run out by the end of day on Monday ahead of an expectedThursday delivery.

The federal government published a delivery schedule this week that includes shipment dates and the number of doses expected to be delivered to the provinces and territories until the end of February.

"We're continuing to work with various vaccine companies to accelerate, to move forward, to get more doses for Canadians as quickly as possible," Trudeau said. "Right now, we've been able to give very clear direction and information to the provinces on how many vaccine doses they'll be receiving every week between now and the end of February, which allows them to plan and manage their rollout processes."

WATCH |Canada secures millions more vaccine doses:

Provinces want vaccines faster as Canada secures millions of more doses

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Duration 2:02

The government says Canada could vaccinate 20 million people by the end of June, after securing millions of more doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but for provinces in the grip of a second wave the shots aren't coming fast enough.

Anandsaid negotiations with Pfizerhaveled the manufacturer to move up the delivery oftwomillion doses originally scheduled the thirdquarter to the second quarter.

"This is the work of my department and me every single day that is, to accelerate deliveries of vaccines into this country," Anand said. "Once we enter the second and third quarters,Canadians will see a dramatic acceleration in the pace of scheduled vaccine deliveries."

Anand said she estimates roughly20 million doses fromPfizer-BioNTech and Modernawill arrive between April and Juneenough to vaccinate 10 million people in addition to the six million doses expected by March. Her office says Canada could vaccinate as many as 20million people by JuneifHealth Canada approves two othervaccine candidates currently under reviewfromAstraZeneca-Oxford and Janssen Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

Advisory panel recommends two doses within six weeks

Separately today,the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) concluded the second doses of both the Pfizer-BioNTechand ModernaCOVID-19 vaccines should be given no more than six weeks after the first.

The recommendation was announcedbyDr. Caroline Quach, chair of the committee, during an interview granted on Tuesday to the Radio-Canada program Tout un matina few hours before the publication of the committee's recommendations. The recommendations, intended for thePublic Health Agency ofCanada, allow for a longer pause betweendoses than the manufacturersrecommend.

Officially, guidelines from Pfizer-BioNTechrequire thetwo doses be given 21 days apart, while Moderna recommends spacing doses28 daysapart.

NACI came to this conclusion after reviewing clinical trial data and taking into account the epidemiological situation in several provinces,Quachsaid.

This advice could promptprovinces to reconsider their approaches to the vaccination campaign, as some provinces have been holding back doses to make sure they have enough supply to provide follow-updoses.

There's a growing consensus among experts that offering the COVID-19 vaccine to as many people as possible may be more beneficial than holding back supplies to give recipients their second dose according to the manufacturers' timeline especially in light of the fact that there is more certainty around the delivery schedule.

Henry, B.C.'s provincial health officer, initially came under fire fromB.C. doctors and nursesafterthe province decided to delay second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Henry argued thatthe decision was made with guidance from the World Health Organization, the B.C. Centres for Disease Control, NACIand internationalresearch groups and saidthere is no evidence that a longer waitbefore administering a booster dose affects immunity.

WATCH | B.C. health officer says delaying 2nd COVID-19 vaccine dose will protect 150,000 more people

Delaying 2nd COVID-19 vaccine dose will protect 150,000 more people, says B.C. health officer

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Dr. Bonnie Henry says allowing for a 35-day period between the first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccine is a "science-based approach" that takes into account the limited number of vaccines in B.C.