Canada has enough vaccine doses for all eligible Canadians, PM says
The 66 million doses procured enough to cover everyone in Canada 12 and older
Canada has enough COVID-19 vaccine doses to fully vaccinate everyone eligible in the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a Moncton, N.B., vaccine clinic this morning.
The arrival of five million doses this week will bring the total to over 66 million — enough for all 33.2 million Canadians 12 and older. Children under 12 are not yet eligible to receive a vaccine.
"With enough doses for everyone, there's no more excuses not to get your shot," Trudeau said.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the government had set the end of September as the date when all Canadians who want to be fully vaccinated would be able to get both doses.
WATCH: Trudeau urges the eligible to get vaccinated
"Not only have we kept that promise, but we've delivered it two months ahead of schedule," Trudeau said.
This week's shipment includes 3.6 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as well as 1.4 million doses of the Moderna vaccine.
According to the government's most recent data released last Friday, 57.45 per cent of Canadians 12 and over are fully vaccinated, and 79.66 per cent have received at least one dose.
At a separate announcement in Milton, Ont. representatives of Pfizer and Moderna said studies on vaccinating those under age 12 are ongoing.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand said today that the government expects to have sufficient supply to cover additional age groups by the end of September.
WATCH: Procurement Minister Anita Anand tells CBC's Power & Politics that demand has waned for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine
Questions over vax hesitancy, passports
While Canada now has enough doses, the next challenge will be to get them to the six million Canadians who have not had a shot.
Those who are eligible but have not yet received a dose have cited a number of reasons for their failure to get vaccinated — including health and safety concerns that health authorities say are unfounded and accessibility issues, especially in rural Canada.
When asked about his government's plans to persuade the hesitant, Trudeau pointed to government incentive measures — such as the vaccine passport program which would allow the fully vaccinated to travel internationally.
"We're going to continue with ad campaigns, we're going to continue with provinces putting forward various incentive measures, we're looking at international vaccine credentials so that people who are fully vaccinated can travel around the world," he said.
"These are the things that people who are so hesitant are going to be missing out on, while at the same time they're putting themselves and their loved ones at risk of serious implications of this disease."
