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(Adds Canadian officials on vaccine rollout)
TORONTO/OTTAWA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Deliveries of AstraZeneca
Plc's COVID-19 vaccine to Canada could begin before the
end of March, if the country's health regulator approves its
use, federal procurement minister Anita Anand said on Thursday.
AstraZeneca Canada filed a rolling application for its
vaccine with Health Canada in October and is waiting for
approval from the drug regulator. Health Canada is expected to
complete its review soon.
"Should the vaccine be authorized, deliveries could begin
arriving before the end of March," Anand told a parliamentary
committee.
In a separate briefing, federal officials confirmed Canada's
most recent shipment of Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccine
contained 22% fewer doses than originally expected and said the
next shipment, due in three weeks, would also be short.
"They haven't shared the specifics of the challenges," said
Major General Dany Fortin, who is leading the federal
government's inoculation campaign. "They remain committed to
providing us two million doses by the end of March."
Fortin added Moderna was working in "good faith" to deliver
those doses as quickly as possible to Canada and noted the
obstacles would be temporary.
Shipments of Pfizer Inc's vaccine, meanwhile, are
expected to ramp up later this month. Canada continues to expect
20 million combined doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in
the April to June timeframe, Fortin said.
The approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine would buoy that.
"This is a long-game," Fortin said.
Tensions have been growing over the slow rollout of Canada's
vaccination program, caused in part by Pfizer cutting its
promised deliveries and now the temporary slowdown of Moderna
doses.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is also facing
criticism over tapping into COVAX, a global vaccine-sharing
initiative meant to help low-income countries buy doses. Canada
will get 1.9 million AstraZeneca doses from the initiative.
"Our government will never apologize for doing everything
possible to get Canadians vaccinated as quickly as possible,"
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told lawmakers later on
Thursday, adding Canada continues to support global efforts.
"We've been clear from the start, no one will be safe until
everyone is," said Freeland.
(Reporting by Allison Martell in Toronto and Julie Gordon in
Ottawa. Editing by Mark Potter)
