Is it time to redirect vaccines to COVID-19 hotspots? PM Trudeau says no
Posted April 28, 2021 6:19 pm.
OTTAWA (CityNews) — Justin Trudeau says he won’t be redirecting vaccines to COVID-19 hotspots — at least not yet.
The Canadian prime minister made the statement while speaking to NEWS 95.7 in Halifax — a sister station to CityNews.
“The federal government is not going to take vaccines away from a jurisdiction to go to another jurisdiction,” he said.
“If there are individual provinces or provinces come together and want to make that change, we’ll be there to listen and facilitate that.
Trudeau reassures Canadians AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe: NEWS 95.7 interview https://t.co/yp6fy0IYeO
— CityNews Halifax (@CityNewsHFX) April 28, 2021
Canada is submerged in a third wave of the pandemic and provinces like Ontario and Alberta are currently the hardest hit.
Daily case counts are rising while hospital intensive care units fill up. Some ICUs have started transferring COVID patients to other facilities.
So far, most provinces and territories have targeted elderly Canadians and front-line health workers with their vaccination programs.
But rising cases has some saying it’s time to redirect vaccines to COVID hotspots.
“It would make sense to redeploy to hotspots as long as, again, it’s not just reacting to today,” said epidemiologist Cynthia Carr.
Carr says governments must be ready to change strategies once provinces have covered their initial targets. But only after looking at the long-term benefits for regions in need.
“Once you really get into those specific areas, then you have to start making decisions and pivot – is something about the pandemic changing, are we seeing outbreaks, are we seeing hard-to-reach populations.” said Carr.
Despite the advice and pressure the prime minister is not ready to change plans.
“No. The federal government worked with provinces months ago to establish a per capita basis.”
