Kentucky storm holds up Canadian vaccine delivery as shipper hurries to catch up
Posted February 17, 2021 7:15 am.
Last Updated February 17, 2021 7:17 am.
OTTAWA — The “big lift” for Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts this week has been sideswiped by a big snowdrift.
UPS temporarily closed its operations in Louisville, Ky., Monday because the city received more than 15 cm of snow.
While Canada’s doses of vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech are made in Belgium, they are being shipped through UPS, which flies them to Canada via its air hub in Kentucky.
Health Canada says provinces expecting deliveries of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine can expect them to arrive at least a day behind schedule but all doses will be in the country by Friday.
The delivery will be the single biggest delivery of vaccines to Canada so far, containing 403,000 doses.
This is to mark the end of four weeks of delivery delays from Pfizer while the company upgraded its plant in Belgium, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently called the expected expansion of vaccine deliveries “the big lift.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2021.
Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
