Canada is one of the countries that have reportedly secured surplus doses of coronavirus vaccine. According to media reports, the country has secured enough doses that can vaccinate its 38 million population four times over.
The federal minister has now maintained that it is premature to talk about redistributing what is left over.
In an interview, International Development Minister Karina Gould told HuffPost Canada: “We’re not there yet. We don’t actually have a surplus of physical vaccines. We don’t have a closet where we’re hiding vaccines right now.”
She added that the glut in vaccine supply is a “hypothetical surplus” at this point.
A news release from Oxfam Canada stated: “Updated data shows that rich nations representing just 14 per cent of the world’s population have bought up 53 per cent of all the most promising vaccines so far.”
While international non-profit Amnesty International has also called out Canada for stockpiling vaccines.
Canada has only approved Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. The country has signed deals with six other vaccine candidates.
The inoculation drive was started last week with frontline workers getting vaccinated first.