PremiumCanada will share COVID-19 vaccines with other countries if it receives more doses than necessary, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. "As Canada gets vaccinated, if we have more vaccines than necessary, absolutely we will be sharing with the world," Trudeau said in a television interview.
Canada has signed deals to secure 214 million doses of experimental coronavirus vaccine. It also has an option to purchase 200 million more. Altogether, Canada has reserved more vaccine doses per capita than any other country.
Trudeau's comment came after Amnesty International and other groups had criticized the rich nations, including Canada for buying too many coronavirus vaccines. Amnesty said Canada was the country that had bought the most shots when considering the size of its population with enough doses to vaccinate every Canadian five times.
"Updated data shows that rich nations representing just 14% of the world's population have bought up 53% of all the most promising vaccines so far," it said.
“The hoarding of vaccines actively undermines global efforts to ensure that everyone, everywhere can be protected from COVID-19. Rich countries have clear human rights obligations not only to refrain from actions that could harm access to vaccines elsewhere, but also to cooperate and provide assistance to countries that need it," Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Economic and Social Justice said.
"Nearly 70 poor countries will only be able to vaccinate one in ten people against COVID-19 next year unless urgent action is taken," Amnesty International said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has also called on governments repeatedly this year to make a vaccine protecting against COVID-19 a "public good."
The COVAX alliance, a global vaccine purchasing program run by the Gavi vaccine alliance and the WHO, said it had gained access to nearly 2 billion doses, roughly doubling its supply. It also published guidelines for rich countries that may donate extra doses.
