Eight months after the vaccine was first authorized by Health Canada, usable doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine are set to arrive “imminently,” according to Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam.
“We are accessing some doses from Europe, which have been procured. They have been verified by Health Canada to meet safety, quality, and efficacy standards,” Tam told reporters on Friday.
“I expect that these doses will arrive in the coming days, and with distribution occurring shortly thereafter… we should expect to see some of these doses imminently.”
This comes after the federal government last month gauged interest among provinces and territories for shipments of the vaccine, prompted by Alberta, Saskatchewan, and B.C. making requests for the viral vector shot.
The Janssen vaccine was authorized for use in adults 18 years of age and older by Health Canada in March 2021, but Canada has not yet had any usable doses in-country despite having procurement deals that secured access to at least 10 million.
It was the fourth COVID-19 vaccine to be given the regulatory green light in this country, one of two viral vector vaccines alongside AstraZeneca, and the only single-shot option.
The first shipment of more than 300,000 doses that landed was held and never distributed after Health Canada learned that a drug substance used in the vaccine was produced at the Emergent BioSolutions' Baltimore, Md. Facility, where quality control issues had been raised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, resulting in millions of spoiled J&J doses.
In the months that followed, sufficient doses of the other three COVID-19 vaccines were delivered, resulting in Canada having enough doses in July to fully vaccinate the entire eligible population.
Last month, then-health minister Patty Hajdu said that work was underway to procure usable doses from trusted manufacturers.
Tam said Friday that the J&J doses will be coming from Europe, as the U.S. plant’s manufacturing issue “continues to be examined.”
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has suggested that the one-shot viral vector vaccine may help assuage concerns of those who are hesitant about the mRNA vaccines Pfizer and Moderna.
“Alberta and Saskatchewan are committed to working together to secure a supply of Janssen vaccine. The intent is provide it to primary health care sites or those locations where the single dose vaccine option would lead to an increased COVID-19 vaccination uptake,” said the Saskatchewan Health Ministry in a previous statement to CTV News.
Similarly, the B.C. Ministry of Health has said the province requested the viral vector vaccine “multiple times.”
“We have requested in writing 50,000 doses... Having a variety of vaccination options is important to ensure we can provide vaccines to as many people as possible and reduce the transmission of the virus,” read their statement.
It remains to be seen whether Health Canada or the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) will be issuing new guidance around this vaccine, with NACI previously stating that it should only be offered to Canadians aged 30 and older, and that the mRNA vaccines are preferred given stronger efficacy.
The U.S. FDA has recently endorsed second shot boosters of the J&J vaccine citing concerns that those who have received it do not have the same degree of protection as those who have received a two-dose vaccine series.
Canada’s federal vaccine mandates currently consider anyone who has received a complete series of a Health Canada-authorized vaccine to be fully vaccinated.
With files from CTV News’ Sarah Turnbull
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