OTTAWA, Canada -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday that Covid-19 vaccine developer Moderna will build a manufacturing facility in the country's Quebec to deliver up to 100 million mRNA vaccine doses annually.
Construction is set to start this year and the facility is expected to be operational in 2024 at the earliest, subject to planning and regulatory approvals, Trudeau said in a press release.
In addition to Covid-19 vaccines, the facility is expected to be able to produce vaccines for other respiratory diseases, such as influenza, pending the ongoing development by Moderna and approval by Health Canada, according to the news release.
"Covid-19 vaccines saved lives and got Canadians back to doing the things they love," Trudeau said.
Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos said the government will build a domestic biomanufacturing capacity to ensure that Canada continues to have access to vaccines well into the future.
Health Canada authorized Moderna's Spikevax vaccine for adults in December 2020, for teenagers in August 2021 and for children ages six to 11 in March 2022. Over 29 million doses of Spikevax vaccine have been distributed across Canada.
Meanwhile, the company is applying for a vaccine to protect children between six months and five years old in Canada. Currently there is no vaccine authorized for children younger than five.