Ottawa continues to accept COVID-19 vaccine deliveries despite discarding expired shots worth nearly $1.6 billion, as demand for the shots decreases across the country.
At least 52.9 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were discarded as of November 2023, according to a Dec. 6 department briefing note from Health Minister Mark Holland, which was obtained by Blacklockâs Reporter. At an estimated cost of $30 per dose, the total vaccine wastage cost comes in at roughly $1.59 billion.
The Public Health Agency continues to accept vaccine deliveries despite disposing of tens of millions of doses, the December note states. The department did not indicate how many more doses of COVID-19 vaccines remain to be delivered and the total number the Public Health Agency signed up to receive.
âThe Public Health Agency does not intend to procure additional COVID-19 vaccines once firm contractual deliveries under existing Advance Purchase Agreements are completed at the end of the calendar year 2024 for messenger RiboNucleic Acid vaccines and in 2024 for non-mRNA vaccines,â the report said.
A Department of Public Works report to the Commons public accounts committee last year said that by the end of 2024, the government expected the delivery of around 90.8 million vaccine doses, enough for four booster shots for each of the 21.8 million Canadians estimated to be fully vaccinated against the virus.
The remaining doses are manufactured by just three companies, Moderna, Pfizer, and Novavax, the latter of which was touted as a traditional vaccine, rather than an mRNA vaccine, developed and approved much later.
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The Conservative Party attempted to pass a motion in January to order the release of all records regarding Medicagoâs vaccine contracts with the federal government along with calling for an in-depth study of the issue.
The motion was later amended to only allow members of the Standing Committee on Health (HESA) to look at the unredacted contracts and was supported and approved by the Liberals, the Bloc Quebecois, and the NDP.
