US opening vaccine eligibility to all this month as Canada sticks with end-of-summer timeline

Apr 6 2021, 6:57 pm

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is sticking with his end-of summer timeline when it comes to vaccine eligibility for all Canadians, even as the US announces its plan to expand eligibility to all adult Americans this month.

Noting on Tuesday that the US has reached a milestone of 150 million vaccinations since President Joe Biden entered office, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden will officially announce that by April 19 all adult Americans will be eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

“That doesn’t mean they will get it that day. It means they can join the line if they have not already,” she said.

Asked during a Tuesday press conference if Canada had a specific date in mind for a similar announcement, Trudeau didn’t specify one, but he said his government aims to vaccinate every Canadian who wants one by the end of this summer.

He noted that over 10 million vaccines have been delivered to Canada thus far, “so we’re doing well, but there’s a lot more to go.”

Trudeau said he’s optimistic that by the end of June, over 44 million vaccine doses will have arrived in Canada, adding that various provinces “will do the math differently.”

America has been vaccinating an average of 2.3 million people per day against COVID-19, according to figures from mid-March.

According to the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccination tracker, 5,982,963 Canadians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to date, and 721,687 Canadians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, having received both required doses.

Eric ZimmerEric Zimmer

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