Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced that COVID vaccine roll out will slow down due to production changes in Pfizer’s facilities.

“Today we received another blow. Pfizer has indicated to the federal government that there will be a temporary delay in vaccines shipments due to expansion plans at their European facility. Pfizer is retooling one of its production lines to increase overall production from 1.3 billion to 2 billion,” said Shandro. 

Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine will continue but there will be fewer doses. It is expected that Canada will lose 20 to 80 per cent of their usual shipments next week and that slower shipments can be expected for the next few weeks. The Health Minister does not know exactly how that will affect Alberta’s shipments at this time. 

When regular shipments of doses do begin, Senior Medical Officer of Health Dr. Laura McDougall says the province is ready for distribution.

“We have enough immunizer and more than enough people wanting to be immunized. What we need, is more vaccine. If and when more supply becomes available and delivery schedules more regular, AHS will be able to immunize more healthcare workers and eventually more Albertans,” said McDougall. 

She also noted that health care workers can book their immunizations online.