In his latest COVID-19 briefing, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau provided an update on Canada’s vaccine situation and announced new measures for travellers entering the country from a land border.
Trudeau said he spoke with the head of Pfizer this week and announced that four million doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be arriving in Canada by the end of March. The country will receive a further 10.8 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine between April and June, the prime minister said.**
Canada is also set to receive two million doses of the Moderna vaccine by the end of March, a shipment that is still “on track,” Trudeau said. As well, four million additional doses of the Moderna vaccine will arrive in the summer.
In addition, the country is expecting to receive 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is in the final stages of approval from Health Canada.
Trudeau also reiterated previously announced measures for international travellers, suspending flights to sunny destinations, limiting in-bound international flights to only four Canadian airports, and forcing flyers who enter Canada to show proof of a negative PCR COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of boarding their flight.
Starting today (Feb. 12), people arriving by land borders must show proof of a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of their arrival at the border.
All foreign travellers must quarantine within 14 days of coming home “or risk heavy fines or possible jail time,” Trudeau said.
Additional new testing, quarantine and enforcement measures for air and land travellers returning to Canada will be announced later today, and will take effect Feb. 22.
**An earlier version of this story included a typo that stated the April to June Pfizer dose shipment would be for 18.8 million doses. That has been corrected.
