In December, before the COVID-19 variant changed the course of the pandemic, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau boasted that he had been given enough potential vaccines to protect a population four times the size of Canada. But four months later, not even two percent of Canada’s population of just under 38 million has been completely vaccinated, and large parts of the country are going back into the loop thanks to a brutal third wave.
Canada has recorded nearly one million cases and 23,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Trudeau had hoped that the population would be vaccinated by June, but now says that all Canadians who want a vaccine will get it by the end of September. Canada is one of the only major economies in the world that has not tried to produce its own coronavirus vaccine.
Meanwhile, the variants take post.
On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention issued a stern warning that even fully vaccinated Americans should avoid traveling to Canada. And if they do do essential purposes, they should be tested three to five days after return. “This is not the news one of us wanted, but hospitalizations are on the rise, ICU beds are filling up, variants are spreading and even people who have convinced themselves they don’t have to worry are getting sick,” Trudeau said. news conference Tuesday. “Even if the sun is shining and the weather is getting warmer, COVID-19 is not done with us yet,” he said, calling the third wave of the pandemic “very serious.”
Even more worrying is that most new cases seen in the hospital’s intensive care units are increasingly younger patients, according to Canada’s largest health expert. “While COVID-19 continues to affect people of all ages in Canada, the infection rate is highest among those aged 20 to 39,” Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief of public health, said in a statement on Wednesday. “There is also an increase in the number of adults being treated for COVID-19 in hospital under the age of 60, including in intensive care units.”
How can a country that has ordered more vaccines per capita than anywhere else in the world now be in such trouble? Canada does not produce any vaccines on its territory – does not create their own or manufactures others – and the imported doses have simply not been delivered. The state-owned vaccine manufacturer in Canada was privatized in the 1980s and eventually bought by the French company Sanofi, whose own vaccine efforts weakened.
Trudeau announced last week that Pfizer would eventually begin delivering one million doses a week after the US freed up exports, as it is clear that there is enough stock for Americans first. AstraZeneca has also promised to deliver 20 million of its increasingly controversial vaccine, which should also help the painfully slow rollout. Moderna and Johnson and Johnson have also been approved for use in Canada, but they still need to be delivered in any large quantity.
Trudeau is under fire by angry Canadians after early acknowledging that the country will not be first in line for any vaccines because they do not produce locally. When the EU placed the emphasis on vaccine exports, Canada was once again paying the price in missed deliveries. The Biden administration has not yet committed to any exports to Canada or Mexico, both of which are suffering from shortages.