The federal government has updated its contract with Moderna to secure initial doses of its vaccine candidate within 48 hours of Health Canada approval, meaning a second vaccine could be available for use in this country before the end of the year.
“Canada has secured our second agreement for early doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Canada is now contracted to receive up to 168,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before the end of December, pending Health Canada approval,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday. “Deliveries could begin within 48 hours of regulatory approval.”
Health Canada is still evaluating the Moderna vaccine submission for safety and efficacy, after beginning that process in October. Officials have said they are on track to authorize it for use in this country soon and provinces have been preparing to be able to have access to this vaccine option later this month.
In a recent interview with The Canadian Press, Health Canada’s chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma said that the agency has received the final clinical data from the pharmaceutical giant, but is awaiting data on its manufacturing plants, which are expected to be provided by the end of the week.
The Moderna vaccine candidate still requires cold storage, but not at nearly as extreme cold temperatures as the Pfizer doses that started to be administered in Canada on Monday. This means its approval will open up new possibilities for where vaccines can be sent, stored, and shot into the arms of Canadians.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand first signalled in an interview on CTV’s Question Period this weekend that the government was in talks with Moderna about receiving initial doses early.
Health Canada has said suppliers can pre-position their orders, which Anand said she has raised with Moderna to see if it’d be an option to secure the fastest possible rollout of vaccines as soon as they are approved.
If approved, the Moderna vaccine would be the first to be delivered using Canada’s contracted delivery plan through FedEx Express Canada to have doses shipped across the country.
On Dec. 4, the government announced it had updated its deal with Moderna to secure the delivery of an additional 20 million doses of its vaccine candidate. That means, of the 56 million doses Canada has negotiated the option for, 40 million doses have been secured. Just a few million are expected to land in Canada by the end of March 2021.
--with files from CTV News--