Canada will take its share of vaccine doses from the internationally funded COVAX initiative and will not give any doses to other countries until all Canadians are vaccinated, said Procurement Minister Anita Anand. The program pools funds from wealthier countries to buy vaccines for those countries and ensure low- and middle-income countries have access to vaccines as well. Canada will receive 1.9 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the program by the end of June. Half of the original $440 million secured doses for Canadians, and the other half is directed toward providing doses for 92 countries that need help securing vaccines. Watch: Procurement minister says Canada will still use its share of COVAX vaccines:Procurement minister says Canada will still use its share of COVAX vaccines Power and Politics 2:21 Canada has added a fourth vaccine to its approved vaccine supply, but Procurement Minister Anita Anand tells Power & Politics the federal government still plans to procure vaccines from the COVAX program.

Source: CBC News March 05, 2021 23:25 UTC