Bloc Quebecois leader calls out Trudeau for acting too slowly on vaccine production

The leader of the Bloc Quebecois is calling out the federal Liberals for acting too slowly to produce vaccines in Canada.

Yves-Francois Blanchet says the prime minister’s pledge that vaccines will start to arrive in the coming months is unacceptable.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that other countries are likely to start inoculating their citizens before Canadians, citing Canada’s low capacity to churn out vaccines.

Trudeau said the federal government has signed orders for millions of doses from a variety of foreign pharmaceutical companies in recent months, and that Canada has been pushing the international community to ensure equal access for all.

Blanchet says the federal government should have moved sooner to help obtain manufacturing rights for COVID-19 vaccines and beef up production capacity at home.

The U.S., Britain and Germany have said residents could start to receive vaccinations for COVID-19 as early as next month.