Failed Vaccine Deal With China Cost Millions, Delayed Canada-Made Vaccines: Report

Failed Vaccine Deal With China Cost Millions, Delayed Canada-Made Vaccines: Report
A logo of China's CanSino Biologics Inc is pictured on the company's headquarters in Tianjin, China, on August 17, 2020. Reuters/Thomas Peter
|Updated:

The federal government’s insistence on partnering with a Chinese vaccine company in the early stages of the pandemic led to a nearly two-year delay in producing a Canada-made vaccine, according to a new report.

The Canadian government waited months for a COVID-19 vaccine sample to arrive from China that never materialized, and wasted millions upgrading a facility that has never produced any vaccines, according to government documents obtained by CBC’s The Fifth Estate.