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The Toronto Star editorial board is now meeting with federal procurement minister Anita Anand. Topic today: COVID-19 vaccines! Follow along with me here. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/02/08/anita-anand-canadas-procurement-minister-will-meet-with-the-star-tuesday-afternoon-send-us-your-questions-on-the-vaccine-supply.html
Minister: one of the things she finds frustrating interviews is they're short. (Note: we have an hour!) She thinks its important to remember where we started in March, back when vaccines didn't even exist. (I'm paraphrasing.)
Minister: there have been 3 mountains to climb here. The first? PPE. Then came rapid testing. The third mountain is vaccines. The intent was to have a broad portfolio, to have "many irons in the fire." Noting they didn't know which vaccines would be successful and when.
Anand says we were one of the first countries to sign with Pfizer and Moderna and were one of the first to get shots into arms. The issue now is supply chain issues. We're still climbing this metaphorical mountain.
She points out that a big part of this is supplies. Needles, syringes, gauze, fridges, deep freezers etc. She repeats goals to have 6M Moderna + Pfizer doses by end of Q1 and 70M by end of September.
First question from the editorial board: we're talking a lot about quarters, but that's a long period of time. Did the companies insist we use quarters?
Minister: the companies put this on the table because they weren't sure how manufacturing would go. Canada has been pressing manufacturers to go to weekly because the provinces need to plan. She notes Canada has been providing weekly delivery schedules to provinces.
(Sidebar: that's here, if anyone is interested. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/prevention-risks/covid-19-vaccine-treatment/vaccine-rollout.html#a4)
Anand says Canada believes in transparency. She says Canada has been in the hot seat because Canada has shared information about when they thought vaccines would arrive, and again, when they were delayed. "The intention is to provide up to date info to Canadians."
