Madam Speaker, I am pleased to virtually rise in my home office today to address the government's ongoing strategy for rolling out COVID-19 vaccinations.
As my colleagues have outlined this evening, from the very early days this government's focus has been on doing whatever it takes for as long as it takes to get us through this pandemic. We know that the only way to conquer this pernicious virus is for all of us to continue to follow public health advice alongside a successful vaccine rollout.
Intense pandemic fatigue only serves to further strengthen our resolve to get vaccines out to Canadians as rapidly as possible. Across the globe, every country is faced with a challenging vaccine supply chain. Every country wants to get vaccines to its citizens as soon as possible, and every country shares the same goal: to get to the other side of this pandemic.
From the beginning, the focus of this government has been to provide safe, effective and reliable vaccines to all Canadians who wish to be vaccinated. Our comprehensive and meticulously planned vaccine strategy means vaccines are getting into the arms of Canadians. We have hit more than three-quarters of a million vaccine doses administered across Canada. As the Prime Minister announced on Friday, the number of doses administered daily is now four times what it was just three weeks ago. That is the good news. The number and pace of vaccine delivery to Canadians is increasing.
However, the government has pledged that it will be up front with Canadians when it comes to bumps in the vaccine rollout road. Yes, the temporary delay of delivery of doses of the Pfizer vaccine is frustrating for all of the countries supplied by that company's Belgian manufacturing facility. That is why when we set out our vaccine strategy we were so ambitious in the large number of contracts that we signed and the doses that we secured.
Here in Canada, during this historic worldwide scramble for vaccines, such bumps in the road were expected. This pandemic is happening in real time. The government's comprehensive planned vaccine strategy means when bumps occur, we are able to respond and adapt in real time.
From the start, our government recognized the highly complex and intensely competitive global market for vaccines, and that is precisely why we pursued a diversified vaccine procurement approach. We knew that temporary production delays such as that announced by Pfizer would be highly likely, given complex manufacturing, unprecedented global demand and a rapid ramping up of production.
Allow me for a moment to remind the House what the world looked like when we started our COVID-19 vaccine procurement strategy. At that time, none of us knew if it was even possible to develop a vaccine that would be effective against COVID-19. We knew that, historically, developing and testing a new vaccine to protect against an infectious disease would normally take several years, but the world did not have several years.
From making sure the vaccine was safe to making sure it was effective, to obtaining regulatory approval to manufacture truly vast quantities of vaccines such as we have never witnessed, we knew from day one that first scientists and then regulators and then manufacturers around the globe would be working under intense time pressure to produce a safe and effective vaccine demanded by every country in the world. Faced with a myriad of differing vaccine types, dosage requirements, as well as manufacturing and finishing needs, working day and night, this government has been dedicated to procuring the very best vaccine candidates for Canadians.
These efforts paid off. Canada invested in one of the most diverse COVID-19 vaccine portfolios in the world. We knew that not all vaccines would make it through the clinical trials. We knew that global demand for the safe and effective vaccines would be like nothing previously witnessed, and we knew that the pressure on biomanufacturing facilities could lead to production delays. That is why from the start Canada had plans in place to mitigate the impact of these challenges. Canada had plans in place to make sure that this country would receive as many vaccine doses as possible, as rapidly as possible.
Because of this foresight and planning, Canadians have been receiving the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines since last month. We have agreements in place with five other potential vaccine suppliers. We have access to more vaccine doses per person than any other country. We continue to work day and night to get as many vaccine doses as possible into Canada.
So far the government's vaccine strategy has succeeded in delivering 1.1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to the provinces and territories so that they can rapidly administer the shots to vulnerable Canadians and those on the front line battling this pandemic day in and day out.
Yes, the delay in the Pfizer shipments will have a short-term impact on the vaccination rollout, but this is temporary. Let us be clear: We remain on track to receive the four million doses of the Pfizer vaccine we are expecting by the end of this quarter.
As we head into spring, we expect to be able to send out more than 20 million doses to provinces and territories. That will keep us well on track so that each and every eligible person across this country who wants a vaccine will be able to get one by the end of September.
By the end of March we expect to have six million doses of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines in Canada and up to 80 million doses by the end of the year. The agreements we have in place for five additional vaccine candidates will provide access to even more doses, which we will bring to Canada as soon as regulatory authorization is in place.
Further disruptions to supply are likely, but again, multiple agreements with multiple manufacturers mean that Canada is prepared. As spring gets under way, Canadians will begin to see a dramatic increase in vaccine deliveries. We remain on track for each and every person across this country, as I said, who wants a vaccine and is eligible to be able to get one by the end of September.
Across this country and around the globe, we all have the same aim: to end this pandemic. Nobody in this House underestimates the pain, the anguish and the grief felt by Canadians. The terrible loss is felt by our friends and by our families across the globe during these past depressing, distressing months.
It has been months and we are all living with pandemic fatigue, but this government is steadfast in its commitment to the health and safety of Canadians. The pathway out of this pandemic will not be straightforward and we will face setbacks, but the meticulous early planning of our government means that we will get through it. By continuing to pull together and to support each other, we will make it to the other side of this pandemic.