The Canadian government is confident there will be no disruption in the delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine despite an attempt by the Trump administration to block its export from U.S. manufacturers.
In a call with reporters Tuesday, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic Leblanc noted the contract with Pfizer considered access to the vaccine from both its U.S. and European manufacturing facilities.
“Deliberately, in the contracts themselves, we contemplated having access to production facilities on more than one continent,” said Leblanc. “We’re also confident that the contractual obligations with Pfizer and other vaccine makers will be respected.”
“We’re not concerned.”
The comments come as U.S. President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday the United States would "work with the world" to distribute COVID-19 vaccines, even as he signed an order aimed at putting Americans at the head of the line.
In virtually the same breath, Trump delivered two diametrically opposed promises: to ensure U.S. citizens are first to reap the benefits of the country's effort to develop vaccines, but also to ensure other countries receive them as well.
"We're working very closely with other nations, to get the vaccines out to other nations; we're working with the world," Trump said.
With that, he signed an executive order "to ensure that American citizens have first priority to receive American vaccines," adding that the U.S. would begin working with other countries "almost immediately."
In an email to the Tri-City News, a spokesperson for Pfizer Canada confirmed the company “is committed to honouring our agreements with the Government of Canada.”
“Pfizer and BioNTech recognize the need for collaboration to meet this urgent public health need, and that governments may pursue a number of procurement routes to rapidly secure vaccine supply for their populations once available,” said Pfizer Canada spokesperson Christina Antoniou.
Pending regulatory approval from Health Canada — which is reviewing quality, safety and effectiveness — early batches of Pfizer’s vaccine could start arriving as early as next week.
Pfizer’s vaccine is the first rigorously tested COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in the world after the United Kingdom gave it the green light last week. The company has contracts with the Canadian government to provide up to 249,000 early doses in December.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, is scheduled to rule on the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine Dec. 10.
Unlike other vaccines further behind in the regulatory process, including those of Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer’s must be kept at an ultra-cold minus 70 degrees Celsius and the company has recommended early batches be administered at centralized locations.
Pfizer’s Antoniou said the company is working with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the provinces “to finalize preparations at the first point of use sites this week, including training on how to handle the product.”
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, whom Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tapped to lead the logistical behemoth to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to Canadians, told reporters Tuesday that health officials have identified 14 initial locations selected by the provinces where teams are postured to receive early batches of a vaccine as early as next week. As more vaccine becomes available, more vaccine sites will be added, he said.
Fortin said his team has completed a cold-chain dry run, in which thermally-controlled shipping boxes were sent by airplane through Belgium to Canada.
Packed with nothing but dry ice, personnel are being trained to receive the containers and scan their thermal history, “so we’ll be able to get a good sense of the temperature throughout the journey and we’ll have identified if there are any critical failure or friction points in the path.”
Despite the positive vaccine news, British Columbia provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry stressed Monday that British Columbians cannot relax public health measures, and extended a prohibition on group fitness, adult team sports, all events and multi-household social gatherings until Jan. 8 at midnight.
“If you're used to having multiple family members come over for Christmas and getting together and having those large dinners together — now you need to do it remotely,” she said.
Henry said she, along with Premier John Horgan and Health Minister Adrian Dix, would provide more information on the province’s vaccination plan later in the week. In the meantime, the ultra-cold temperatures necessary to store the vaccine will create practical limitations in its distribution — meaning the initial batches will likely go to health care workers, said Henry.
When asked how such limitations would affect the administration of the vaccine to long-term care homes across the country — something both B.C. and Canadian health officials say should be prioritized — Canada’s chief medical health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Tuesday “it’s a rapidly evolving situation” and “everyone has to remain flexible and adaptable.”
Of the nearly 13,000 reported deaths due to COVID-19 in Canada, 74% are thought to have occurred in long-term care facilities, a number that drops to a still significant 45% in British Columbia, according to a tally kept by the National Institute on Ageing.
The vast majority of the vaccine in Canada will be deployed by the province and territories, said Tam, although some populations, like Canadian Armed Forces personnel, federal inmates and Indigenous groups will follow the same prioritization approach as other populations.
Before the coronavirus pandemic hit the world, Mumpsvax was the fastest-developed vaccine in history — and that took four years to develop. But the accelerated development of dozens of COVID-19 vaccines has not so far hindered the efficacy and safety of some of the top contenders.
“We haven’t heard of any serious side effects, which is great,” said Tam in reference to the Pfizer vaccine, which took four months to develop.
Tam said Tuesday Canada has “several layers of surveillance and health monitoring” in place, including the Canadian Adverse Events Following Immunization Surveillance System, hospital-based networks detecting serious health effects and clinical researchers looking at more long-term health consequences.
Still, added Tam, “when we actually begin to roll it out into millions of people, even rare side effects need to be detected.”
“If we detected a signal, there will be a rapid response to investigate.”
— With files from the Canadian Press and Albert Van Santvoort
