PM Trudeau announces domestic vaccine production deal, provides COVID-19 update – February 2, 2021

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses Canadians from outside his home in Ottawa on the federal government's response to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) pandemic. He announces that the government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Novavax to produce its COVID-19 vaccine at the National Research Council of Canada’s new Biologics Manufacturing Centre in Montréal, pending Health Canada's regulatory approval of the vaccine. Construction of the facility is expected to be completed by this summer, but the prime minister did not provide a firm timeline on when vaccine production would begin. On January 22, Canada signed an agreement with the pharmaceutical company to purchase 52 million doses of its vaccine with the option for up to an additional 24 million doses. The prime minister also announces federal investments for vaccine, therapeutic, and biomanufacturing projects in Canada. He also faces questions about federal travel restrictions and concerns about the European Union's vaccine export controls.