Trudeau turns to the military to help with COVID-19 vaccine distribution

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced that the federal government has chosen a senior military commander to lead itsCOVID-19 vaccine distribution effortas the country prepares for a massive inoculation campaign.

Trudeau saidMaj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the current chief of staff to the Canadian Joint Operations Commandand a former commander of the NATO mission in Iraq, will head up vaccine logistics and operations within a new branch of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Beyond his extensive overseas service, Fortin alsowas involved in planning the CAF missions in pandemic-hit long-term care homes over thesummer. The harrowing reports the soldiers produced after working in those homes caused the federal government to draft newdirectives on seniors' care.

Trudeau said the government is creating a new military-supportedhub within PHAC the National Operations Centre to help coordinate the deployment of millions of vaccine doses over the coming months.

"Canada is well prepared for large-scale rollouts of vaccines, but this will be the biggest immunization in the history of the country. We must reach everyone who wants a vaccine, no matter where they live," Trudeau said.

Trudeau said the armed forces will assist in planning for and tackling pressing challenges, such as thecold-storage requirements for the promising Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The military alsowill help Ottawa get shots to some Indigenous and rural communities where health care services are limited at the best of times.

"This will be a major effort but together, Canada can, and will, do this," Trudeau said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has also picked a military leader Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada's former top soldier and chief of defence staff (CDS) to lead similar vaccine efforts in the province.

While the federal government is procuring the drug, it will be up to the provinces and territories to get shots into the arms of Canadians. Hillier said that, despite massive uncertainties about possible delivery times, he's aiming to have some sort of distribution structure in place by Dec. 31.

Hillier said Fortin's appointment is a welcomedevelopment because the general has the know-how to execute a complicatedrollout.

"He is the most incredible leader. I could not praise him enough. I'm so absolutely delighted he's commanding the task force. We're blessed as a nation to havehim" Hillier said, praising Fortin's efforts in the war in the Afghanistan.

The U.S. tapped a retired four star general, Gen. Gustave Perna, in May to lead Operation Warp Speed a projectto develop a vaccine, manufactureit in large quantitiesand push it out into communities.

The U.S. armed forces, working with pharmaceutical distribution giant McKesson and shippers like FedEx, will distribute millions of Pfizer vaccines doses to all 50 U.S. states the day after that product gets the necessary approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is expected to happenon Dec. 10.

As many as 20 million Americans are expected tobe vaccinated in December, with30 million more Americans beingvaccinated in every subsequent month.

Majority of Canadians to be vaccinated by September: Trudeau

The government has been criticized bythe opposition, provincial leaders and some public health experts for offering few details about its plans to roll out a vaccine once Health Canada gives one the green light.

The government alsohas had tograpplewith the fact that Canada seems to be falling behind other developed countries on vaccine delivery timelines.

When asked why he didn't appoint a military liaison earlier, when the U.S. has had one in place for months, Trudeau said his government is doing "its very best" and work on the distribution plan has been ongoingfor some time.

"I can understand the eagerness with which people want to know when this will be over, when we're going to get vaccines. What we can say is we're going to work extremely hard to deliver as quickly and as safely as possible," Trudeau said."We're on this and we're delivering."

Trudeau said Canada is on track to vaccinate nearly every personthat wants a shot by September 2021.

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Health Canada is expectedto give approvals to the Pfizer product at roughly the same time the United States does. "We're on track to make decisions on similar timelines," said Dr. Supriya Sharma, the chief medical adviser at Health Canada.

Sharma said her department has been reviewing clinical trial data on a rolling basis since October 9.The rolling review process a policy shift implemented because of the urgency of this pandemic allows drug makers to bypass the lengthy timelines they normally face when launching a new vaccine.

Canada is largely beholden to Pfizer manufacturing plants in the U.S. and abroad for its supply of the vaccine because our country doesn't have the capacity to produce it. The vaccineuses groundbreaking messenger RNA technology, or mRNA, which essentially directs cells in the body to make proteins to prevent or fight disease.

The federal government didn't secure domestic manufacturing rights for the AstraZeneca product, which was co-developed by scientists at Oxford University. That vaccine, which uses a more traditional vaccination platform, is easier to produce.

Other countries including Western nations like Germany, France and Italy andmiddle-income countries like Mexico and Argentina will produce the vaccine domestically.

Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand, a former contract law professor, said the government considered manufacturing the AstraZeneca vaccine here in Canadabut ultimately decided that the "quickest path" to a vaccine would be through international supply chains. Some scientists are now raising red flags about that vaccine's clinical trial results.

Anand said her department is in daily contact with Pfizer and the six otherdrug companies with which the government signed agreements for vaccines.

"I will personally make sure we have vaccines in place in Canada once Health Canada has provided its regulatoryapproval," Anandtold reporters at a COVID-19 briefing.

"Once we have Health Canada approvals, deliveries will start as soon as possible," she said.

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Procurement Minister Anita Anand says people should think about the vaccination of every Canadian not just the first one.

Arianne Reza, an assistant deputy minister at Public Services and Procurement Canada, saidshe expects vaccines will be available in the "first quarter of 2021."

"The minute regulatory approval comes through, they will be ready to go quite quickly with supply and initial shipments," she said.

If all goes well, and if U.S. pharmaceutical giants are able to meet delivery timelines, PHAC has said as many as six million doses could be deployed in the first three months of 2021.Each patient will need two doses of Pfizer's vaccine.

All told, Canada has secured options for 414 million doses of the various vaccines under development.

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Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan spoke with the CBC's Murray Brewster on Friday