In order to face a possible influenza pandemic, Canada has concluded a new 4-year agreement with the company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) which will provide up to 80 million vaccines if necessary, announced Friday the Canadian Minister of Health. Health, Jean-Yves Duclos.
This contract will allow Canada to have “timely access to safe and effective influenza vaccines in the event of an influenza pandemic”, said Mr. Duclos, visiting GSK’s vaccine production center in Sainte-Foy. . Up to 80 million vaccines will be provided, if it is recommended to administer two doses per person during a possible influenza pandemic. The agreement also provides for 4 million doses per year once morest seasonal flu.
“Pandemic influenza occurs roughly every 10 to 40 years,” recalled Mr. Duclos. The latter pointed out that the last episode dated back to 2009, with the H1N1 virus. Climate change, deforestation, more frequent contact with natural environments and regular movement between countries and regions are causing “this kind of virus to evolve rapidly”, he also said.
Reaching an agreement with “Canada’s only self-sufficient supplier of flu vaccines” will help avoid supply issues that might be due to border closures, trade disruptions or delivery delays, argued Minister Duclos.
Regarding the amounts invested for this contract, Mr. Duclos replied that this information “was not public” for reasons of confidentiality.
A “double campaign” of vaccination this fall
It will be necessary to conduct a double vaccination campaign in the fall to protect once morest both COVID-19 and seasonal flu, argued Mr. Duclos. “Our health system is weakened and our health workers are tired,” he said.
Re “up-to-date” COVID-19 vaccination, which means having received a dose in the last 9 months, Minister Duclos affirmed that Canada was “behind all the G7 countries, except the United States”. “We have to make more efforts,” he said, urging the population to get a third dose.
Mr. Duclos encouraged parents of children aged six months to five years to have their toddlers vaccinated. Health Canada approved last Thursday Moderna’s vaccine for this age group. If it is “normal to have concerns”, the “product is very safe and effective”, he assured.
