Canada is on track to receive at least 40 million COVID-19 doses by the end of June 2021. This is more than enough to give every Canadian at least the first dose — and real world evidence from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now shows that one dose of mRNA vaccines can provide as much as 80% protection against COVID-19. This year, Canada will likely have enough doses to fully vaccinate 100% of its population, with tens of millions of doses left over.

As an important step towards an equitable response to COVID-19 and to help put the world on a path to ending the pandemic this year, donations should start as soon as possible, in parallel to Canada’s own vaccination campaign. Given the large supply expected in the coming weeks, this could be done without preventing any Canadian from getting his or her first dose on time.

Donating while Canada continues its domestic rollout – and in parallel with the removal of IP barriers to the production of COVID-19 tools – could help to protect front-line health workers and the highest-risk populations around the world, with the potential to save thousands of lives. It could also help prevent new variants developing, and end the pandemic sooner.

We know sharing Canada’s excess doses with low- and middle-income countries is just a first step.

To move forward on an equitable global response to COVID-19, we also need to:

• Allocate and disburse funding for the ACT-Accelerator that will support vaccinations for low-income countries through COVAX and support the development and distribution of drugs and diagnostic tools
• Support the temporary removal of intellectual property barriers to scale up the manufacturing of COVID-19 tools
• Ensure health care workers around the world – the majority of whom are women – are a priority group for vaccination and that they are fully paid and supported in their work.
• Listen and respond to the needs and requests of low and middle-income countries and support them in their recovery

More Resources from Our Members and Partners:

• World Health Organization (WHO): WHO calls for moratorium on COVID-19 booster jabs
• ONE: Canada’s excess vaccines will end the pandemic sooner. But we must share now.
• GLOBAL CITIZEN: Why Should Rich Countries Donate COVID-19 Vaccine Doses to the Rest of the World?
• UNICEF: UNICEF Canada Poll: Canadians want to see equitable distribution of vaccines globally
• Doctors Without Borders: COVID-19 vaccines 
• Stephanie Wiafe, ThriveHire: Vaccine Nationalism and COVID-19 Global Health Inequities
• Amref Health Africa: COVID-19 Vaccine Equity: Why G7 leaders need to stand in solidarity with Africa

If you have any resources that you would like to see added to this page, please email us at [email protected].