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> Point of interest, one thing 4 of the 5 OECD member states above Canada have in common is that they manufacture the vaccine at home. That's smart. Why did th

> Point of interest, one thing 4 of the 5 OECD member states above Canada have in common is that they manufacture the vaccine at home. That's smart. Why did the current administration decide not to do it in Canada?

arcticbull 6y ago
Current administration? Developing a vaccine supply chain takes a very long time, it's not like firing up a tire factory. Trudeau's Liberals have held office for 5 years, with Harper's Conservatives holding office from 2006-2015. I think without pointing fingers, the COVID situation has shown the world just how fragile global supply chains are in times of stress. The US learned this lesson with PPE, if you remember that debacle. Hopefully Canada invests in such capacity moving forward.
- cperciva 6y ago
  Canada produces lots of vaccines -- we just happen to not produce any COVID-19 vaccines.
  - arcticbull 6y ago
    Connought Labs, once a Crown Corporation, was sold to Sanofi who continues to operate the campus in Toronto, and GSK has a campus in Ste Foy [1]. Neither Sanofi nor GSK were able to develop a COVID vaccine in time and their facilities could not be re-tooled to produce the vaccines that we do have. There is not sufficient capacity to take on this challenge at this time, as to your point, those facilities are occupied producing other necessary drugs and vaccines. Canada was once a dominant player in the vaccine game, but those days are long since passed, especially after the privatization of Connought under Mulroney. In my opinion this would be a good opportunity to revisit a Crown Corporation devoted to vaccine development, as it does appear the public sector is not well set up to cater to this national security need. We are just 38M people after all. Maybe under the NRC? [1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/domestic-vaccine-manufacturing-canada-1.6004427 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/domestic-vaccine-manufactur...
kuschku 6y ago
Not every country has the capacity and ability to manufacture everything locally. With increased globalisation we're also seeing countries specializing in certain industries. Generally it was understood that most western countries would not abuse this dependency for their own benefit, as they all were counter-dependent on each other. Obviously, as so often, the US and UK didn't get that memo.
- makomk 6y ago
  Most reasonably large developed countries probably have the capacity if they care enough - for example, I don't think the UK was particularly well-equipped to do local vaccine manufacturing, most of the pharmaceutical industry here buggered off to other countries long ago along with the other manufacturing, but the government cared enough (and distrusted the US enough) to insist on local production anyway.
  - arcticbull 6y ago
    Yup, Canada privatized Connought labs under Mulroney in the 80s. I think with a population of 38M and a private sector not particularly equipped to provide this service, revisiting a Crown Corporation might not be a bad path forward. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connaught_Laboratories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connaught_Laboratories
- TMWNN 6y ago
  >Obviously, as so often, the US and UK didn't get that memo. There is and has never been a US vaccine export ban, and the US has not seized vaccines meant for other countries. The Trump administration last year signed gigantic contracts for every planned vaccine, because no one knew which ones would work. Like, enough for every American from one manufacturer, let alone the current four major available ones. More importantly, the contracts guaranteed the US the earliest deliveries. The UK signed a similar contract for the AstraZeneca vaccine. The EU and Canada did not assure themselves of such quantities. Canada also bet on CanSino because it was afraid that the US would ban vaccine exports (which, again, never happened). Of course, the Chinese did not live up to the contract. Before you say "But what about—", the Trump executive order from December 2020 merely sets up the legal framework to prohibit exports if desired. But that does not mean that the framework is invoked. Let me repeat: The US signed contracts that were a) huge in size/scope and b) from every pharmaceutical company working on a vaccine, which c) got the country the largest and among the first deliveries. The UK did the same thing with the AstraZeneca vaccine, and spent a lot of money to retool domestic plants to produce it. If the situation were different, might the US have implemented a ban on exports, similar to what the EU did implement recently? Perhaps. But, fortunately, the US never faced this issue, because of the huge amounts of money it invested a year ago and the contracts it signed with said money.
deleted 6y ago
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arcticbull 6y ago

Current administration? Developing a vaccine supply chain takes a very long time, it's not like firing up a tire factory. Trudeau's Liberals have held office for 5 years, with Harper's Conservatives holding office from 2006-2015. I think without pointing fingers, the COVID situation has shown the world just how fragile global supply chains are in times of stress. The US learned this lesson with PPE, if you remember that debacle. Hopefully Canada invests in such capacity moving forward.

cperciva 6y ago
Canada produces lots of vaccines -- we just happen to not produce any COVID-19 vaccines.
- arcticbull 6y ago
  Connought Labs, once a Crown Corporation, was sold to Sanofi who continues to operate the campus in Toronto, and GSK has a campus in Ste Foy [1]. Neither Sanofi nor GSK were able to develop a COVID vaccine in time and their facilities could not be re-tooled to produce the vaccines that we do have. There is not sufficient capacity to take on this challenge at this time, as to your point, those facilities are occupied producing other necessary drugs and vaccines. Canada was once a dominant player in the vaccine game, but those days are long since passed, especially after the privatization of Connought under Mulroney. In my opinion this would be a good opportunity to revisit a Crown Corporation devoted to vaccine development, as it does appear the public sector is not well set up to cater to this national security need. We are just 38M people after all. Maybe under the NRC? [1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/domestic-vaccine-manufacturing-canada-1.6004427 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/domestic-vaccine-manufactur...

kuschku 6y ago

Not every country has the capacity and ability to manufacture everything locally. With increased globalisation we're also seeing countries specializing in certain industries. Generally it was understood that most western countries would not abuse this dependency for their own benefit, as they all were counter-dependent on each other. Obviously, as so often, the US and UK didn't get that memo.

makomk 6y ago
Most reasonably large developed countries probably have the capacity if they care enough - for example, I don't think the UK was particularly well-equipped to do local vaccine manufacturing, most of the pharmaceutical industry here buggered off to other countries long ago along with the other manufacturing, but the government cared enough (and distrusted the US enough) to insist on local production anyway.
- arcticbull 6y ago
  Yup, Canada privatized Connought labs under Mulroney in the 80s. I think with a population of 38M and a private sector not particularly equipped to provide this service, revisiting a Crown Corporation might not be a bad path forward. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connaught_Laboratories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connaught_Laboratories
TMWNN 6y ago
>Obviously, as so often, the US and UK didn't get that memo. There is and has never been a US vaccine export ban, and the US has not seized vaccines meant for other countries. The Trump administration last year signed gigantic contracts for every planned vaccine, because no one knew which ones would work. Like, enough for every American from one manufacturer, let alone the current four major available ones. More importantly, the contracts guaranteed the US the earliest deliveries. The UK signed a similar contract for the AstraZeneca vaccine. The EU and Canada did not assure themselves of such quantities. Canada also bet on CanSino because it was afraid that the US would ban vaccine exports (which, again, never happened). Of course, the Chinese did not live up to the contract. Before you say "But what about—", the Trump executive order from December 2020 merely sets up the legal framework to prohibit exports if desired. But that does not mean that the framework is invoked. Let me repeat: The US signed contracts that were a) huge in size/scope and b) from every pharmaceutical company working on a vaccine, which c) got the country the largest and among the first deliveries. The UK did the same thing with the AstraZeneca vaccine, and spent a lot of money to retool domestic plants to produce it. If the situation were different, might the US have implemented a ban on exports, similar to what the EU did implement recently? Perhaps. But, fortunately, the US never faced this issue, because of the huge amounts of money it invested a year ago and the contracts it signed with said money.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]