Canada approves AstraZeneca vaccine as Trudeau looks for rollout lift

OTTAWA — Canada approved two versions of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine Friday in a development expected to give a boost to the country’s slow rollout of shots.

Health Canada’s authorization could bolster the Trudeau government’s vaccine effort, which has been criticized for lagging behind dozens of other countries. Public frustration over the government’s vaccine plan has even hurt Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approval ratings, polling has suggested.

“Deliveries are ramping up,” Trudeau told reporters Friday after the announcement, which he said would ensure Canadians get doses more quickly.

Canada’s vaccine portfolio: The announcement makes AstraZeneca — and the Serum Institute of India's version of it — the latest Covid-19 vaccines, after Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, to get a green light for use in the country.

The Trudeau government has pre-ordered 20 million doses of AstraZeneca, which has yet to be approved in the United States. In January, the United Kingdom became the first country to use the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Canada is in line to receive another 1.9 million doses of the drugmaker’s vaccine through the COVAX global vaccine equity effort.

The government also announced on Friday that by mid-May it will receive 2 million doses from the Serum Institute of India. Procurement Minister Anita Anand said 500,000 doses of the Serum Institute vaccine would arrive in the “coming days and weeks.”

Health Canada estimated the efficacy of AstraZeneca’s vaccine is 62.1 percent.

Delivery schedules: The Trudeau government has assured Canadians that anyone who wants a vaccine will get one by September.

Anand repeated that timeline Friday, though she recently acknowledged that approval of more vaccines could accelerate that effort.

Trudeau said Canada will receive 6.5 million doses by the end of March and that tens of millions more shots are scheduled to arrive over the following months.

“We’re well on our way,” the prime minister said.

Canada vs. Covid: Deputy Public Health Officer Howard Njoo said on Thursday that 1.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in Canada. He said 2.9 percent of Canadians have received at least one dose of vaccine, while 1.1 percent have received two doses.

By comparison, the United States is vaccinating 1.5 million Americans a day.

Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech deliveries: Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, who is overseeing the military's involvement in vaccine distribution, said Thursday that shipments of the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines were picking up, with 643,000 doses distributed across Canada this week.

He said 444,000 more Pfizer doses were expected weekly through March and 769,000 weekly in the first half of April.

By the end of March, Fortin said that Moderna will have delivered on its first quarter commitment of 2 million doses.

“As we head into spring, we’re collectively gearing up for what we call the ramp-up phase,” he said.