Poilievre will do 'anything to win,' must condemn Alex Jones endorsement: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
By the end of July, Canada will have received “over 68 million” doses of COVID-19 vaccines, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday, resulting in more Canadians being able to receive their second doses earlier than expected.
“Canada is getting millions more Moderna doses brought forward from our summer shipment schedule into June, and we're locking in shipments for the first half of July… And we’re also getting extra doses from the U.S.,” Trudeau said, addressing the country from self-isolation at Rideau Cottage where he is quarantining after his international trip.
The previous cumulative total for doses the federal government said they expected to see delivered by the end of July was 55 million, which the government said Friday was based on Pfizer-BioNTech’s commitments and all past deliveries, as Moderna had not yet confirmed its future shipments.
“Just like we surpassed our delivery numbers for the first quarter of the year, we’re doing the same for the spring quarter. That will mean that for the end of June, as promised, we’ll be at more than 50 million doses total, and by the end of July, we’ll be over 68 million doses for Canadians.”
Detailing the anticipated upcoming deliveries, Procurement Minister Anita Anand said that Moderna will be sending 11 million doses of its mRNA vaccine between late June and the end of July, and Pfizer will be delivering 9.1 million doses of its mRNA vaccine by the end of July.
Anand called the announcement a “milestone,” that is the result of an ongoing push with suppliers to accelerate deliveries. Asked whether Canada will be paying a premium for the fast-tracked deliveries she said that the government has paid “fair value.”
There are no future confirmed deliveries of either the AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
The federal government has previously promised a “one-dose summer” and “two-dose fall” with all Canadians who can, and want to be, able to be fully vaccinated by the end of September. With this influx of doses expected over the next several weeks it is possible, pending further delivery delays, that the target date could be moved up.
Asked whether the prime minister was ready to set a new target for when all shots will be in arms, he said he is “certainly hopeful that everyone who wants to is going to be fully vaccinated before September.”
“The sooner the largest possible number of people get double vaccinated, the sooner we're going to be able to get back to more and more normality,” he said, thanking provinces for doing their part in ensuring doses are being administered expeditiously.
Further, Anand said that sticking to the end of September target factors in the “volatile” supply chains, the reality of global demand, and the domestic responsibility of the rollout.
According to CTV News’ vaccine tracker, as of Friday morning, more than 31 million COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Canada, with more than 74 per cent of eligible Canadians having received their first dose, and nearly 19 per cent of the eligible population fully vaccinated.
Following the National Advisory Committee on Immunization’s latest recommendation that people who received a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine should receive a second dose of a mRNA vaccine, Trudeau says he’ll take whichever vaccine is offered to him first.
Trudeau received his first AstraZeneca shot in April, and when provinces started limiting the use of the vaccine he had said he still planned to get a second AstraZeneca shot on the advice of his doctor.
“Like many Canadians, I'm looking forward to my second dose, which I hope to get soon after coming out of quarantine in the next few weeks,” he said.
“But as to which dose, I will take whichever dose is offered to me. I will do what all Canadians should do, which is follow the best advice of the experts around them, including NACI and their family doctors, and I will be reassured as all Canadians should be that getting that second dose is the best way through this pandemic.”
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, and many other federal and provincial politicians were among those who received AstraZeneca for their first dose and will soon be due for their second shots.
Trudeau said that any Canadian who received a Health Canada-authorized vaccine “did the right thing,” because “we're on our way to getting through and into a much better summer because of it.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
The RCMP says a former SNC-Lavalin executive has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison in connection with a bribery scheme for a bridge repair contract in Montreal.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.