Canadians expected to wait until September to be vaccinated as US aims for spring

US President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that Americans will be able to be fully vaccinated earlier than expected.

While previous models predicted that there would be enough available vaccines for all Americans by the end of July, the Biden administration now believes that such a target will be reached by the end of May.

As of the most recent count, nearly 25 vaccine doses have been administered for every 100 Americans. This does not mean that a quarter of the American population has been vaccinated, however, as it does not account for those who have received two doses.

Meanwhile less than six vaccine doses have been administered for every 100 Canadians, with the Canadian government not expecting most of their citizens to have access to the vaccine until September, four months after the United States is expected to universalize access.

After starting off relatively ahead of most countries, Canada quickly fell to 60th place in the world for vaccine distribution, although it has climbed a few places since then. Vaccine distribution in Canada has been plagued by a lack of supply, a problem which has been compounded by production problems in Europe.

As Canada managed to acquire a large number of doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, it was revealed that evidence is lacking that the vaccine is effective on elderly people, the most vulnerable group to coronavirus.

Despite warnings from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization against using the vaccine on the elderly, Health Canada has nevertheless approved its use for the age group, leading to criticism from Conservatives, particularly MP Michelle Rempel Garner.

Rempel argued that the Trudeau government must explain why these conflicting recommendations are being put out, stating "this must happen now, because the AstraZeneca vaccine may arrive as early as tomorrow."

Despite the continued problems surrounding vaccine distribution, polls show that the majority of Canadians believe that the government will ultimately deliver on its promise to have vaccines available for all Canadians by September.