17 per cent of Canadians have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine

TORONTO – As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout presses on and more doses arrive in this country, there’s some good news when you compare Canada’s numbers to some other countries’.

In Canada, more than 17 per cent of the population has had at least one vaccine dose, according to Our World in Data.

The country is now third in the G7 when it comes to the percentage of people who received at least one dose, behind the U.K. and U.S. but ahead of France, Italy, and Germany.

The U.K. leads G7 countries, with close to 47 per cent of its population having received at least one shot as of Thursday.

Canada’s improved efforts come after a slow start to the country’s immunization efforts.

In recent months, the federal government has secured more and more doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with deliveries ramping up.

To date, Canada has delivered more than 10 million doses of vaccines to provinces and territories, however, only about seven million had been administered as of Thursday.

The gap has prompted a lot of questions and criticisms for some provincial governments, as we see COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations rise.

Related articles: 

• Head of Canada’s COVID vaccine rollout stands by provinces amid distribution criticisms

• Canada’s vaccine panel stands by decision to delay second doses of COVID shots to four months

• Trudeau offers provinces help with COVID-19 vaccine distribution

However, the person in charge of the logistics of vaccine deliveries in Canada stood by provincial governments on Thursday, saying they weren’t dragging their feet.

“Provinces and territories do their very best to administer as rapidly and as effectively as possible vaccines to Canadians throughout the country, full stop,” Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin said.

Canada is expecting millions more vaccine doses in the coming weeks, with 44-million doses from all approved vaccine drugmakers set to arrive in the country by the end of June.

-With files from Cormac Mac Sweeney