By Canadian Press

Canada considers what to do with millions of unused COVID-19 vaccine doses

Oct 22, 2021 | 10:49 AM

OTTAWA — Canada must decide what to do with millions of unused COVID-19 vaccine doses now that officials have confirmed they won’t be needed to vaccinate children.

Roughly 6.6-million doses have been distributed to the provinces but not yet used, and there are an extra 13 million in Canada’s central vaccine inventory.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says provincial and federal governments are working to figure out how many doses will be needed in Canada so that everyone can be fully vaccinated, and get a booster if they need one. 

At the same time, they are keeping tabs on when doses expire to make sure they do not go to waste. 

Health Canada is also looking at the possibility of extending the shelf life of some vaccines based on new data from the manufacturers, so they can be kept in storage for a few extra months. 

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Arrangements have been made between the government, the manufacturers and COVAX, the global vaccine sharing initiative, to donate doses that can’t be used or stored.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2021.

The Canadian Press