OTTAWA -- The federal government is still eyeing January 2021 as the start date for when people in Canada will begin to receive COVID-19 vaccines, despite frustration and concerns levelled at the Liberals by the opposition on Wednesday about Canada鈥檚 position in the queue to receive doses.
鈥淎t the beginning of next year, in January of 2021, assuming those approvals are given鈥� Canadians will be able to start being vaccinated,鈥� Queen鈥檚 Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc said in an interview on CTV鈥檚 Power Play.
The approvals he is referencing are Health Canada approvals, which will be required before vaccine doses are doled out.
LeBlanc wouldn鈥檛 say what specifically the contracts say in terms of licensing and schedules for delivery, but disputed that Canada is at the back of the line and said that the number of doses coming to Canada will increase over time.
鈥淲e will start to receive the first millions of doses early part of 2021鈥� those contracts are in place and that distribution will be made very effectively with provinces and territories,鈥� he said.
In a separate segment on CTV's Power Play, Conservative health critic Michelle Rempel Garner , saying there is no publicly available evidence to substantiate the government's January 2021 target will be attainable.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought to temper Canadians鈥� expectations around the timing and rollout of an eventual vaccine or vaccines to immunize against the novel coronavirus, acknowledging that Canada is at a 鈥渄isadvantage鈥� because Canada 鈥渘o longer has any domestic production capability鈥� to make our own and is relying on other nations.
While there has been promising news about some vaccine candidates that Canada will receive millions of doses early next year鈥� to be distributed on a priority basis鈥攕everal other nations are making plans to begin administering vaccines next month.
Among the promising candidates so far are Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca, all of which Canada has begun the domestic approval process for. However, Trudeau said that the countries where these pharmaceutical companies are based, including the United States, will 鈥渙bviously鈥� prioritize vaccinating their citizens before shipping doses internationally.
This caused a flurry of questions levelled at Trudeau during question period on Wednesday, with the opposition slamming the government鈥檚 handling of vaccine procurement.
鈥淲hy did this prime minister sign deals that placed Canadians months behind Americans for getting a COVID-19 vaccine?鈥� asked Conservative Leader Erin O鈥橳oole.
鈥淭he announcement of vaccines gave people hope, but when the prime minister said we鈥檙e not able to produce it in Canada people were afraid鈥� They need to know that there鈥檚 a clear plan with dates,鈥� said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh during question period.
In a press conference, Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet said it was 鈥渦nacceptable鈥� that vaccines could still be months away from arriving in Canada, saying the federal government should have moved sooner to secure manufacturing rights and to ramp up production capacity at home.
Trudeau sought to defend his government鈥檚 handling, noting that it was under the previous Conservative administrations that Canada鈥檚 domestic capacity dwindled away.
Canada has begun funding domestic vaccine production capacity but Trudeau has said it will take 鈥測ears鈥� to get in place and likely won鈥檛 help Canada鈥檚 COVID-19 vaccine situation, but will be in place should there be future pandemics.
On Wednesday, LeBlanc suggested that should there be a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine required, or subsequent booster shots in years to come, the domestic ability to produce the vaccines could be ready.
Canada does produce some vaccines, but not the kind so far looking promising for COVID-19. Pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline make protein-based vaccines, but the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, for example, are mRNA vaccines, which use messenger ribonucleic acid to produce an immune response.
"One is like making wine, one's like making Coke," Andrew Casey, the CEO of BioteCanada, told The Canadian Press Wednesday. "Yes, they both grow in bottles. Yes, you can drink both out of a glass. But the manufacturing processes used for the two is so completely different. You can't just say well, we'll shut down the protein one, and we'll switch over to the mRNA."
On Friday the Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed to MPs that the country is on track to receive an initial six million doses by March, four million from Pfizer and two million from Moderna.
In total, Canada has signed deals with seven vaccine manufactures, securing more vaccines per capita than other countries. The deals include an agreement with Canadian-based Medicago, whose vaccine candidate remains the farthest away from approval of those Canada has contracts with.
With files from The Canadian Press
