Pandemic Response Report Card: Canada
It has been …
… since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said "Only by protecting each other can we protect ourselves. Canada is ready to help lead a coordinated global response which will contribute to overcoming the pandemic"
Deliver doses
Low and lower-middle income countries still need nearly 4.2 billion doses to fully vaccinate 70% of the population by mid-2022. To help close the gap, members of the G20 have promised to share over 2.5 billion doses by mid-2022. To date, 553 million have been delivered.
Canada has not published a dose delivery plan.
Fund the Global Response
We need at least $43 billion to vaccinate 70% of the population in every income category by September 2022. To date, $0 billion has been committed. Country shares will be available soon and governments should act fast to fill this funding gap.
Share SDRs for Economic Recovery
The pandemic’s aftershocks continue to devastate the economies of many countries. High-income countries must support more vulnerable nations with all tools available, including Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), an international reserve asset that can help support countries in emergencies. Rechannelling an initial $100 billion of SDRs in 2021 to low income and vulnerable middle income countries is a smart investment in a fairer, greener, and better recovery for everyone. To date, $45 billion has been committed from all advanced economies.
Dismantle Barriers to Vaccine Supply
Only a handful of countries have the capacity to manufacture vaccines. We need urgent action to share mRNA technology and intellectual property rights, and to adapt existing facilities and acquire the materials needed to scale up vaccine production globally.
What’s next?
Canada was an early and vocal supporter of multilateral efforts to scale up access to vaccination in the world’s poorest countries, committing $1.1 billion to the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) in 2021.
However, the talk was not always followed by action. Canada over-purchased vaccines — it bought enough to vaccinate each Canadian more than five times. This vaccine hoarding is reducing developing countries’ access to vaccines and undermining global vaccination efforts. And only 18% of Canada’s promised doses have been delivered.
Canada has repeatedly emphasized the need for a strong global economic response, promising recently to “finish the global fight against COVID-19.” Increases in development investments in the past two years and a pledge to recycle 20% of Canada’s Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) allocation show commitment to deliver needed economic support. But significantly more will be needed in 2022.
In 2022, Canada must urgently deliver the doses it promised to COVAX, continue supporting the global pandemic response with more funding, and share more of its SDRs.
