Pfizer-BioNTech cutting back vaccine deliveries to Canada due to production issues

Only half of Canada’s promised COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech will arrive in the next month, federal officials revealed Friday, blaming production issues in Belgium that will affect immediate vaccination plans.

Procurement minister Anita Anand said Canada faces an “unfortunate” delay that is nonetheless expected to be made up by the end of March, while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insisted most Canadians will still be vaccinated by the fall.

News of the Pfizer delay drew reaction from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who said the province’s vaccination strategy depends on steady shipments.

“We are evaluating the impact of today’s news that there will be a delay in Pfizer vaccine shipments,” Ford’s office said in a statement.

“We will adjust as necessary recognizing the fact that Ontario will soon have a baseline capacity to vaccinate nearly 40,000 people a day with the ability to triple or quadruple this capacity with notice.”

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A spokeswoman for Quebec Health Minister Christian Dube said the temporary slowdown of the Pfizer product only reinforces the decision the province has taken to wait up to 90 days to administer a second dose of the vaccine.

“The strategy remains the same: we must give a boost now and vaccinate as many vulnerable people and health workers as possible, as quickly as possible,” said Marjaurie Cote-Boileau.

But Health Minister Patty Hajdu says all provinces should adhere to drugmaker schedules for delivering the second shot of the vaccine. Pfizer recommends people get the second shot within 21 days.

Maj-Gen. Dany Fortin, who is leading the national vaccine distribution, said Pfizer’s production delays would reduce deliveries by an average of 50 percent over the coming weeks.

He said that won’t be felt until after next week because Canada’s upcoming shipment has already been prepared. But the final week of January will bring “about a quarter of what we expected.”

“The numbers will pick right back up after that to about half of what we had expected (and) progressively grow into the rest of February,” said Fortin.

“Pfizer is telling us it will impact us for four weeks.”

According to the government’s website, more than 200,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine were expected in each of the next two weeks and 1.4 million doses were expected in February.

“I know the federal government is working to secure more supply and when they are able to deliver more vaccines, Ontario will be ready to administer them,” Ford added.

Trudeau said Ottawa was “working day in and day out to get vaccines delivered as quickly as possible” but acknowledged that Pfizer-BioNTech doses have been derailed in the short-term.

Trudeau said this is why Canada has one of the most diverse vaccine portfolios in the world, pointing to seven bilateral agreements he says ensure “flexibility when it comes to supply chains.”

“I want to be very clear: this does not impact our goal to have enough vaccines available by September for every Canadian who wants one,” Trudeau said from outside Rideau Cottage.

Anand said all countries that receive vaccines from Pfizer’s European facility have been affected but that Canada has been assured it will receive four million doses by the end of March.

“This is unfortunate. However such delays and issues are to be expected when global supply chains are stretched well beyond their limits,” Anand said at a news conference.

“It’s not a stoppage.”

Pfizer Canada spokeswoman Christina Antoniou said the production facility in Puurs, Belgium is undergoing modifications in the coming weeks to increase the number of doses it can pump out.

Pfizer hopes to double its 2021 production to two billion doses.