By Chris Brown

Condemns riots at Capitol

Vaccine rollout to ‘scale up,’ says Trudeau

Jan 8, 2021 | 10:29 AM

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is doing everything it can to obtain as much vaccine as quickly as possible and says Ottawa is co-operating with the provinces and territories on delivery.

Trudeau says it’s time to work together as Team Canada “to get vaccines delivered, distributed and administered as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Speaking outside Rideau Cottage, the prime minister says Canada has secured the most COVID-19 vaccines per capita of any country in the world.

Trudeau says 124,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been delivered to 68 sites across the country and more than 208,000 doses will be delivered weekly throughout January.

On Moderna, Trudeau says that by the end of next week 171,000 will have been delivered.

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In total, by the end of January, the prime minister says, 1.3 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be delivered to the provinces and territories by the end of January. They will scale up in February.

“By September, we will have enough vaccines for every Canadian who wants one,” says Trudeau.

Alberta received 25,350 doses of the Pfizer vaccine in December and 16,900 doses of the Moderna vaccine.

Trudeau adds it’s more important than ever for Canadians to do whatever it takes to keep friends, family and communities safe.

Premier Jason Kenney announced on Thursday that current public health restrictions in Alberta will remain place until at least Jan. 21. There are 13,298 active cases in the province and 37 in Medicine Hat.

In his first comments since the U.S. Capitol was stormed by supporters of President Donald Trump said it’s a lesson that Canadians can’t take democracy for granted.

“What we witnessed was an assault on democracy by violent rioter, incited by the current president and other politicians,” he said.

He says Canada is not immune to extremism and that “extremists will not succeed in overruling the will of the people.”

He added that in Canada everyone has a responsibility to carefully choose their words, respect other points of view and never leave room for hatred.