By Canadian Press

Canada must share excess vaccines with the world, MPs say in report on COVID-19

Mar 11, 2021 | 6:50 AM

OTTAWA — A cross-partisan group of MPs says the Liberal government must redistribute excess COVID-19 vaccines to developing countries and report to Parliament on that effort. 

The push is one of 10 recommendations in a report by the House of Commons’ foreign-affairs committee into the global humanitarian crisis that’s been caused by COVID-19. 

The committee report calls on Canada to take more of a lead in alleviating that crisis, not just by sharing vaccines but by increasing the international aid budget to take account of growing needs. 

Members of the committee are set to discuss their findings at a news conference this morning, the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic. 

Canada has already contributed around $940 million toward vaccines in lower-income countries, but has also drawn criticism for accessing vaccines through one of those programs, known as COVAX. 

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The committee report notes that the health crisis caused by the novel coronavirus in the developing world will be followed by brutal economic and social aftershocks that must be addressed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2021.

Stephanie Levitz, The Canadian Press