Canada is donating 17.7 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to help immunize people in low- and middle-income countries. This was announced by the Minister for International Development Karina Gould and the Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand: the doses, they said, are part of the federal government’s advance purchase agreement with the company and will be distributed through COVAX.

COVAX is a global vaccine sharing initiative jointly coordinated by the World Health Organization, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Gavi and The Vaccine Alliance. The program raises funds from wealthiest countries to buy vaccines and ensure that low- and middle-income countries also have access to vaccines as well. This new donation is in addition to the $440 million that the federal government already has committed to COVAX.

“This donation is the result of our proactive approach in initial contracts to secure hundreds of millions of Covid-19 vaccines. With nearly 55 million vaccines in Canada and with the requests of the provinces and territories for this vaccine having been met, we are now able to donate these excess doses,” Anand said.

The federal government also announced that it is partnering with UNICEF in a fundraising campaign to encourage Canadians to donate doses of vaccine by contributing $10. All donations from Canadians will be matched by the federal government, up to a maximum of $10 million. This campaign will end on September 6th: people can donate through UNICEF or by sending a sms VACCINES to 45678.

Anand and Gould said that if UNICEF’s campaign is maximized, it will provide enough money to vaccinate four million people in countries where vaccination campaigns are having considerable difficulties to meet demand.

Minister Anand said that the federal government also has a reserve of three million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and that the provinces have asked the federal government not to hand them over until they are ready to receive them.

Anand made it clear that the provinces have told the Public Health Agency of Canada that they are in possession of all the doses of AstraZeneca they need: as a result, the minister pointed out, the federal government is able to donate the almost 18 million doses.

There was no lack of a jab by federal conservative mp Garnett Genuis that the federal government should not donate the vaccines it “does not recommend to Canadians.”

The Public Health Agency of Canada and the National Advisory Committee on Immunization have both said that mRNA vaccines such as Moderna or Pfizer are “preferable” to AstraZeneca’s product, although all three are approved for use in Canada.

UNICEF Canada’s president and CEO David Morley said that because AstraZeneca can be stored in a regular refrigerator – while mRNA vaccines must be kept in extra-cold conditions – AstraZeneca is easier to administer in the developing world.