OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada has negotiated an option with Pfizer Inc for an extra 3 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine for delivery in September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told a briefing on Friday.
Trudeau said the government was on track to meet its target of inoculating everyone who wanted to be protected against the coronavirus by the end of September.
Trudeau said 65% of Canadians aged 12 and over had received at least one dose, the highest rate in the Group of 20 nations.
“This is really encouraging … you can be hopeful about this summer and fall,” he said.
Canada is now reporting on average around 2,300 new COVID-19 cases a day, down 73% from the peak of the third wave earlier this year, health officials said.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand said Canada had so far received 29 million doses from Pfizer, Moderna Inc and AstraZeneca Plc. By the end of September it expected to have received 51 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine alone, she added.
(Reporting by David LjunggrenEditing by Bill Berkrot)
