Thought of the Day - July 29 2021 - Canada's Vaccine Surplus

Canada has a problem related to vaccines. While some would say it is a good problem to have compared to the alternative, it is a problem none the less. In short, Canada has way too much vaccine.

This was a problem of our own making, last fall it was reported that Canada had ordered more vaccine per capita than any other county in the world. Fast forward, and today we have already received way more vaccine that we can use. Canada has received over 66M doses of vaccine with 2M more on the way this week. Figures have not been posted but there is also more in the pipeline for August. We have administered 48M doses to date, but with vaccination rates now starting to plateau we know have already received a surplus of at least 18M received doses, even after donations to date.

Unfortunately, the clock is now ticking on most of these surplus doses. The US has somewhat the same problem and has been trying to pass on its end-of-life doses to Canada over recent months. Luckily, due to the J&J manufacturing disaster, we at least had an excuse to turn back the doses from them ( Thought of the Day - April 27 2021 - Vaccine Wars, the Latest Theaters ).

In addition, Canada has now received an approval application from Sanofi, a French company, who despite having problems with efficacy late last year, now says they are ready for action. Canada has agreed to buy up to 72M of their product, and given we have already made some up front payments we will certainly receive a portion of this. Then there is Novovax with whom we have also signed a deal (although the product is not looking to promising at the moment), and, moreover, we have the vested interest in being able to manufacture it right here in Canada. Oh, and let's not forget the extended Pfizer contract for supply for the next couple of years.

So why not just give the excess away? While this means a big waste of tax payers money, it is the altruistic thing to do. But it is not that simple. First, as alluded to above, much of it will expire soon and thus other countries may not want them (we already dumped over a million doses of expiring AstraZeneca on unsuspecting recipients back in June). Second, the current US brands (Pfizer and Moderna) come with strict contract clauses ensuring that Canada does not pass the vaccine on to countries whose regime the US doesn't like - you know the very countries that desperately need the stuff.

As this problem has been with us for a while, I can only hope that we do have a plan (not just PR-grabbing press announcements) for how we will effectively "donate" the surplus. After stockpiling all this vaccine it would be a shame if it just went to waste.

Cheers

Cliff