QUESTION PERIOD — Foreign Affairs
COVID-19 Vaccine Access
March 24, 2022
Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.
Senator Gold, we know that global resilience in the fight against COVID-19 is absolutely essential. We’re still in this pandemic.
We also know that over 80% of the Canadian population is fully vaccinated, yet, according to UNICEF, low-income countries have only approximately 9.4% of the population vaccinated with one dose. The rise in cases in one area of the world impacts us all. This is even more concerning with the arrival of new variants, including BA.2, which are disproportionately impacting areas of the world with low vaccination rates.
Senator Gold, can you tell us what Canada is doing to step up the way it is addressing the global inequality in vaccine access, especially in the global south? Thank you.
Thank you, senator, for the question. It’s an important one.
Canada has contributed $2.6 billion to the global fight against the coronavirus. This includes a total of $1.3 billion to support access to the COVID Tools Accelerator.
Canada has also committed to donating the equivalent of at least 200 million doses to the COVAX facility by the end of 2022. This includes both financial commitments to COVAX and surplus dose donations. I’m advised that, as of March 4 of this year, 13.9 million surplus vaccine doses have been delivered through the COVAX facility, and the equivalent of 87 million doses have been provided through financial support.
I’m further advised that Canada has provided $50 million to the Pan American Health Organization to support efforts to introduce COVID-19 vaccines and ancillary supplies to reach those living in situations of vulnerability across the Caribbean and Latin America, including at-risk Venezuelan migrants and disadvantaged populations.
Portions of this grant, colleagues, are being used to procure vaccine doses for countries through the organization, and these are in addition to Canada’s commitments to COVAX.
Thank you very much, Senator Gold. You did mention something about ancillary supports, and I want to probe a little bit there.
We know that in addition to vaccine supply issues, many countries have difficulties in terms of a lack of appropriate vaccine infrastructure, including around the cold chain maintenance and vaccine storage.
What is Canada doing to address the gaps in infrastructure that are causing further delays in vaccine access in low-income countries?
Thank you, honourable senator, for the question.
Canada is working with international partners to address all barriers to equitable access of vaccines, in part by improving global capacity to manufacture them.
I’m also advised that the government has announced an investment of up to $15 million to COVAX Manufacturing Taskforce partners in support of establishing the South African technology transfer hub. This initiative will help build capacity to enable the development and production of mRNA vaccines and technologies in the region.
With regard to the rest of your question, I’ll have to make inquiries and will be happy to report back.
