Cut in Canadian supplies of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines will have considerable effect -official

Pfizer Inc told Canada on Tuesday it will receive no coronavirus vaccines starting the week of Jan. 25, a senior official said, indicating more pain for provinces already complaining about a shortage of supplies.

Pfizer Inc told Canada on Tuesday it will receive no coronavirus vaccines starting the week of Jan. 25, a senior official said, indicating more pain for provinces already complaining about a shortage of supplies. Pfizer has already said it will slow production in late January and early February due to changes in manufacturing processes, prompting Canada to predict last week that shipments would be cut in half over the next month.

Major-General Deny Fortin, who is helping organize the inoculation campaign, said Pfizer had announced that deliveries expected in Jan 25 would be pushed back. "Of course, there will be a considerable impact in all the provinces," he told reporters, saying that despite the delays, Canada was still on track to receive 4 million doses of the vaccine by the end of March.

Canada, struggling to deal with a rapidly spreading second wave of the coronavirus, has reported a total of 18,120 deaths and 715,072 cases so far. Procurement Minister Anita Anand reiterated that the delay in deliveries was disappointing and said she had pressed the company over the weekend to make up the shortfall as quickly as it could.

But the premier of Ontario, Canada's most populous province, said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should be doing more to put pressure on head of Pfizer. "We've got to be on these guys like a blanket. I'd be outside that guy's house - every time he moved, I'd say 'Where's our vaccines'?" Doug Ford told reporters.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault urged Ottawa to ban non-essential international travel and better enforce a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all arriving passengers. Trudeau, in a separate briefing, told Canadians not to travel abroad and said Ottawa could if necessary "introduce new measures without warning". He did not give details. (Additional reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

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