Canada will receive a donation of 1 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine from the United States today.
The doses are part of the U.S. promise to donate 80 million doses of vaccines by the end of June.
Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response co-ordinator, says the shipment to Canada will arrive today, following a donated shipment to Mexico on Tuesday.
The donation won't cost Canada anything, and will be on top of the 44 million doses Canada has purchased directly from Moderna.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand took to Twitter to highlight the securing of vaccines from the US.
Canada has reached an agreement with the U.S. government under which Canada will receive an additional 1 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, set to arrive this evening. 1/3
— Anita Anand (@AnitaOakville) June 17, 2021
We continue to work with partners around the world, including the United States, to ensure access to vaccines for Canadians, as well as to help meet demands internationally. 3/3
— Anita Anand (@AnitaOakville) June 17, 2021
It comes less than a week after Canada promised to donate 13 million doses to the COVAX vaccine-sharing alliance, which will entirely come from the remaining share of doses Canada had purchased from COVAX itself.
Canada has been heavily criticized for buying three times as many doses of COVID-19 vaccine than it needs and not sharing any doses from its own direct purchase agreements with vaccine makers.