Thank you for your question. All Canadians are concerned and wait eagerly and with anxiety for the arrival of more vaccines and progress in our vaccination. To answer your question directly, Canadians can take comfort in the fact that the government’s position has been, and remains, that it is on track to meet that objective. Honourable senators will recall that the September date was predicated upon only two vaccines being approved. We know now that a number of other vaccines are in the latter stages of the approval process at Health Canada.

Indeed, there is no denying the fact that this has been a long, hard time, but I’m advised that the government remains convinced and committed that it is on target. I will use a sports analogy, but an apt one. We have to view this, despite the anxiety that delays no doubt produce, as a marathon, not as a sprint. We’re still relatively early in the year. The government is confident that it will meet its targets.

Thank you for the question. The disruptions to which you refer are unfortunate, but as the minister for procurement has stated on a number of occasions recently, they’re largely behind us. This government has been reassured by the companies producing those, as well as by their counterparts in the EU, that the companies are on track to deliver the promised numbers of doses. In addition, as I said, other vaccines are in the process of being reviewed, and we eagerly look forward to the results of those Health Canada approvals.

My question is also related to vaccines. I share this waning confidence in the government’s ability to manage all sorts of things, including the vaccine rollout.

It came as a surprise last week when the Trudeau government announced that it would be receiving millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through COVAX. This is a global vaccine-sharing program primarily designed to help low- and middle-income countries receive an equitable share of COVID-19 vaccines. To date, Canada is the only G7 country to access vaccines through COVAX.

Leader, this vaccine does not yet have approval in Canada. Why did your government choose to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine through COVAX instead of through your government’s contracts with the company itself? Is it because the deal your government negotiated directly with AstraZeneca does not have as favourable a term for Canada as the COVAX deal?

The short answer to your last question is no. It is important for honourable senators and Canadians to understand more than what has been regularly reported about COVAX. It is an important program to help developing countries have access when they don’t have the ability, as Canada does, to afford to sign agreements with a large number of pharmaceutical companies, as Canada has done, including the ones you referred to.

Canada, behind the United Kingdom, was the second-largest contributor to COVAX. It contributed a significant amount of money, and proportionately more than others. The agreement under which Canada financed COVAX has two aspects: It allowed COVAX the buying power to procure large sums of vaccines for the benefit of developing countries who would not otherwise have access to that; but it also clearly provided that contributing countries, proportionate to their contributions, also had the ability to acquire a certain number of vaccines through the COVAX process.

The advance market commitment process, which benefits all countries — if my numbers are accurate — can provide for 2 billion doses of COVAX for the world. Canada will be receiving 1.9 million doses under the terms of the arrangement that flowed directly from its enhanced contribution to the program itself.

I’m not sure if I understand your explanation in that we are the only G7 country to do so. It would be interesting to see the contributions of other countries compared to Canada given the fact that they’re not doing this.

Leader, Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders are among the groups that have criticized your government’s decision to obtain vaccines from COVAX at this time. Yesterday, the South African government announced that it would suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to data that suggests it’s not as effective against a variant that is dominant in that country. Leader, has your government contacted South Africa and AstraZeneca about this, considering that cases of the South African variant have been found in Canada? Does your contract with AstraZeneca cover the booster shots for the variant which it aims to have ready for this fall?

With regard to your last question, I will have to make inquiries and respond.

As I tried to explain, senator — I’ll try to be more clear — Canada was the second-largest contributor to COVAX. It’s precisely because of that enhanced contribution that Canada has access to a certain number and a small percentage of the doses that COVAX will otherwise be making available.

The Government of Canada has a responsibility to its citizens to protect them as best it can. It’s discharging that in an effective and transparent manner. When it no longer knows when a delivery is coming because of developments outside of its control, it tells the provinces so. That is a measure of transparency, as difficult though it sometimes is to receive the news.

With regard to the rest of your question, the Government of Canada is in regular contact with its counterparts in the international community. As the science is evolving, as the virus is evolving, it underscores the wisdom of the government’s policy in hedging its bets with seven different vaccines and seven different companies, all of which are seeking to find adjustments to the viruses as the science reveals their efficacy to the mutations that are unfortunately spreading.