Canada reportedly in talks about donating extra doses of COVID-19 vaccines to third-world countries

Canada is reportedly in talks with other governments in potential plans to donate extra doses of COVID-19 vaccines to lower-income countries.

The Duke Global Health Innovation Center said Canada has made deals to buy more vaccine doses per capita than any other nation, reserving enough shots to vaccinate the entire population several times over.

A source in Ottawa tells Reuters, the government plans to donate any extra doses through a facility backed by the World Health Organization, which would distribute them among recipient countries.

But, a procurement official said it’s still too early to plan, because it’s not clear if all seven of the suppliers whose shots the government reserved will be approved.

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So far, Canada has received developments from two vaccine developers, and now, potentially emerging is a third.

Phase two trials of AstraZeneca’s experimental vaccine shows it appears to work safely in older people, and generates as strong an immune response in those over the age of 70, as it does in younger people.

It’s not clear if the shot protects people from getting sick with COVID-19 — but the trial does show, it generates an immune response that would be expected to provide protection.

The AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine is now in phase three clinical trials around the world.

The phase two findings are in the Lancet Medical Journal.