Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

Canada's sluggish COVID-19 vaccination efforts are expected to get a big boost starting this week as the federal government prepares for a ramp up in the delivery of shots from Pfizer-BioNTech following a month-long lull.

A month-long slowdown in Canada's COVID-19 vaccine deliveries should end next week, with the single biggest shipment of vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech to date and almost two million doses expected in the next month.

Concern over the spread of COVID-19 has delayed some voting in the Newfoundland and Labrador provincial election, postponed school holidays in Ontario and prompted Manitoba to seek vaccine from a Canadian supplier.

As the Trudeau government is forced to explain delays rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, some of the world's economic and health leaders are warning of catastrophic financial consequences if poorer countries are shortchanged on vaccinations.

The prime minister on Friday, February 5, 2021, sought to quell angst over delays in vaccine delivery while British Columbia extended restrictions on gatherings to stem the spread of new, more transmissible variants of the COVID-19 virus.

Procurement Minister Anita Anand said this week she is confident Canada's COVID-19 vaccine deliveries will only get better going forward but just hours after she made the remark, Canada's vaccine purchases got slammed again.

Canada is putting together options to retaliate if Europe breaks its promise not to cut off Canada's shipments of COVID-19 vaccines, though Europe appears to be keeping that promise at least for now.

A top science adviser says Ontario is far from in the clear despite a downward trend in COVID-19 cases, while some provinces criticized Ottawa for lower-than-expected vaccine shipments and the pandemic was flagged as an outsized contributor to Quebec's death count last year.

Ongoing tensions between the provinces and the federal government over the management of the COVID-19 pandemic pivoted back on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, to the question of whether and how border controls can be tightened to slow the spread of the virus.

Quebec's director of national health said he's still not sure when the province will begin administering COVID-19 booster shots — 43 days since officials started injecting people with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Members of Parliament return to the House of Commons on Monday, January 24, 2021, following a month-long break that was anything but restful to again face the ramification of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the threat of a possible election.

Canada is not getting any COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer-BioNTech next week and the federal government says it can't tell provinces exactly how many doses to expect over the next month.

Canada's vaccine deliveries are getting bigger almost every week but there won't be enough doses shipped to provinces and territories to "ramp up" the vaccination program for another few months, Maj. Gen. Dany Fortin outlined on Thursday, January 14, 2021.

Canada's hardest-hit regions are further tightening COVID-19 lockdown measures with public health officials blaming holiday gatherings for surging infections and experts suggesting Quebec's clampdown may inspire more restrictions.

Canada is the latest country to investigate how to stretch vaccine doses as far as possible, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have tragic consequences all around the world.