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Canadian COVID-19 vaccine maker says it can produce 50 million doses this year – Global News

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A Canadian company says it is on track to produce 50 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine this year, which if approved, could give the country’s vaccine supply a much-needed boost to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

Calgary-based vaccine maker, Providence Therapeutics, is still in the early stages of clinical trials for its mRNA vaccine candidate, and Manitoba is the only province that has announced a deal with them.

Read more:
Domestic vaccine-makers want more help from Ottawa: ‘There’s been a real lack of leadership’


Click to play video 'Manitoba to buy Canadian-made COVID-19 vaccine doses upon approval'



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Manitoba to buy Canadian-made COVID-19 vaccine doses upon approval


Manitoba to buy Canadian-made COVID-19 vaccine doses upon approval

“Providence can have millions of doses of messenger-RNA vaccine by this fall. We’re on that path now,” Ken Hughes, chair of the board at Providence Therapeutics, told the House of Commons on Tuesday.

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Beginning in July, the company said they have the capacity to produce 50,000 vials per day, with each vile containing 10 doses.

Our total capacity that we could produce in 2021 would be 50 million doses,” said Brad Sorenson, chief executive officer of Providence Therapeutics, during a virtual standing committee meeting.

The company said they are now receiving orders from provinces and more information on those orders will be disclosed in the coming days.


Click to play video 'Canadian vaccine maker hopes Alberta agrees to purchase future shots'



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Canadian vaccine maker hopes Alberta agrees to purchase future shots


Canadian vaccine maker hopes Alberta agrees to purchase future shots

Last week, the Manitoba government announced it had committed to purchasing two million doses of the made-in-Canada vaccine.

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Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has also floated the idea of securing their own vaccine supply.

Read more:
Canada’s vaccinations are lagging U.S., U.K.. Why experts say that shouldn’t be the focus

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Amid delays in vaccine supplies from Pfizer and Moderna and a sluggish start to Canada’s rollout, pressure has been mounting on the federal government to ramp up domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity.

Pharmaceutical companies argue having domestic manufacturers supported by domestic governments could help insulate Canadians from global vaccine trade wars.

Never again should we have to rely upon other countries for vaccines,” said Hughes.


Click to play video 'Coronavirus: Trudeau says Canada on track to receive 2 million Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses before end of March'



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Coronavirus: Trudeau says Canada on track to receive 2 million Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses before end of March


Coronavirus: Trudeau says Canada on track to receive 2 million Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses before end of March

Domestic vaccine-makers like Providence Therapeutics have urged for more help from Ottawa.

As of December 31, 2020, the company said it had received more than $2 million from the federal government, but the feds have not yet committed to securing any of its vaccine doses.

We would welcome the federal support, but … we now have the ability to go to the capital markets and to raise sufficient capital funds to carry forward our plans, regardless of whether or not we have support,” said Sorenson.

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With concerns around the growing spread of variants, Sorenson said the company aims to accelerate its work on booster doses for the variants.

A human trial for their prospective vaccine, dubbed PTX-COVID19-B, kicked off in Toronto in late January.


Click to play video 'Guidelines released for next stages of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout'



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Guidelines released for next stages of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout


Guidelines released for next stages of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Read more:
Hope, doubt loom as human clinical trials begin on Calgary-made COVID-19 vaccine

In a release Jan. 26, Providence said its vaccine is the first fully-made in Canada to reach the human clinical trial stage.

The biotechnology company says a group of 60 participants in the Phase I trial will be monitored for 13 months, but enough data should be gathered by April to move to a second phase of testing by May, pending regulatory approval.

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Earlier this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a tentative deal with U.S. vaccine-maker Novavax to produce its product in a new National Research Council facility going up in Montreal if the COVID-19 vaccine gets approved for use here.

But that building won’t be finished until the summer and the new doses are not likely to start being pumped out until late fall at the earliest — long after Canada expects to import enough doses to vaccinate the entire population.


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Canadian vaccine maker pioneers new technology using plants


Canadian vaccine maker pioneers new technology using plants – Jan 11, 2021

In the industry committee’s last meeting on Feb 4. Procurement Minister Anita Anand said COVID-19 vaccine makers that Canada signed contracts with last summer were asked if they could make the doses in Canada and all of them concluded they could not.

Anand told the House of Commons that her department “proactively and repeatedly approached leading vaccine manufacturers” about the matter.

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Read more:
‘Perfect storm’: Is Canada headed for a third wave of COVID-19?

After a month-long lull, Canada is expected to get a big boost in the delivery of shots from Pfizer-BioNTech this week.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said on Monday it expects the two pharmaceutical companies to deliver more than 400,000 doses this week and another 475,000 following a slowdown as Pfizer expanded a production plant in Belgium.

In total, Canada has invested more than $1 billion to have access to up to 414 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from seven different manufacturers. But only two of these vaccines — from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna — have been given the greenlight by Health Canada.

— with files from the Canadian Press. 

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Quebec public services are becoming ‘dehumanized’ due to rise in demand: ombudsperson

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MONTREAL – Quebec’s ombudsperson is warning that public services are becoming “dehumanized” in the province amid a rise in demand for them.

Marc-André Dowd released his annual report today, which highlights several examples of people receiving inadequate care across the health network in the 12 months leading to March 31.

One dying man who lived alone was denied help cleaning his cat’s litter box by his local health clinic, a service Dowd says should have been given for “humanitarian reasons.”

Dowd also describes staff at a long-term care home feeding residents “mechanically” and talking among each other — despite health ministry guidelines directing staff to maintain eye contact with residents.

The ombudsperson says his office received a record number of problems to investigate across the province’s public services — 24,867 compared with 22,053 last year.

He says his office investigated 13,358 cases between April 2023 and March of this year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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French President Emmanuel Macron to visit Ottawa, Montreal next week

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OTTAWA – French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Canada next week after a planned trip in July was cancelled amid political turmoil in France.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in a statement today that Macron will be in Canada Wednesday and Thursday after the leaders attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

Trudeau will welcome Macron in Ottawa on Wednesday, where they are expected to discuss collaboration on geopolitical issues including their ongoing support for Ukraine.

They are also expected to discuss ways to strengthen the response to emerging threats, such as disinformation.

In Montreal, Trudeau intends to show off the city’s artificial intelligence sector, while both countries reaffirm their commitment to work with counterparts on responsible use of AI.

The leaders will also discuss promoting the French language ahead of the Francophonie summit being held in France next month.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Health Canada approves updated Novavax COVID-19 vaccine

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Health Canada has authorized Novavax’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.

The protein-based vaccine, called Nuvaxovid, has been reformulated to target the JN.1 subvariant of Omicron.

It will replace the previous version of the vaccine, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.

Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.

Earlier this week, Health Canada approved Moderna’s updated mRNA COVID vaccine.

It is still reviewing Pfizer’s updated mRNA vaccine, with a decision expected soon.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously described the Novavax vaccine as an mRNA shot.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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