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OTTAWA (Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson has told Canada many times that it is having trouble making its COVID-19 vaccine, which Ottawa approved last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.
Trudeau spoke hours after Reuters revealed that the company had informed the European Union that it was facing supply problems that could complicate plans to deliver 55 million doses to the bloc in the second quarter of the year.
“We have heard in many conversations with Johnson & Johnson that there are challenges around the production of … the vaccine,” Trudeau said in a briefing.
“We will continue to collaborate with them and we hope to receive the doses as soon as possible.”
Ottawa has reserved 10 million doses of the J&J vaccine, the fourth different injection that regulators have approved, with options to order up to 28 million more.
Canada has recorded a total of 22,276 COVID-19 deaths and 890,698 cases.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
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