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Trudeau ‘frustrated’ to hear COVID-19 vaccines are sitting ‘in freezers’ amid rollout

Click to play video: 'Trudeau ‘frustrated’ with speed of coronavirus vaccine rollout'
Trudeau ‘frustrated’ with speed of coronavirus vaccine rollout
WATCH: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admits he's "frustrated" with Canada's coronavirus vaccine rollout, but he remains optimistic. Abigail Bimman reports on when Trudeau expects most Canadians to be vaccinated by, and his plan to address the rollout with the premiers – Jan 5, 2021

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said he is frustrated to hear that a large number of Canada’s coronavirus vaccines remain sitting in freezers instead of being administered to the vulnerable population.

The comment comes after the Canadian government was recently criticized for its slow rollout of vaccines, falling behind countries like Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom in distribution.

Click to play video: 'Some provinces to speed up coronavirus vaccine rollout'
Some provinces to speed up coronavirus vaccine rollout
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“All Canadians, including me, are frustrated to see vaccines in freezers and not in people’s arms,” he said.

Click to play video: 'Coronavirus: Trudeau says he’s ‘frustrated’ over vaccine delay, will work with provinces to increase vaccinations'
Coronavirus: Trudeau says he’s ‘frustrated’ over vaccine delay, will work with provinces to increase vaccinations

“That’s why we’re going to continue working closely with the provinces, both to deliver vaccines to the provinces and to support them as they need it in terms of getting more vaccines out to vulnerable populations and front line workers as quickly as possible,” Trudeau said.

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He said over the past few weeks provinces have been able to ramp up vaccinations. But now that 2021 has arrived, vaccine delivery will “really accelerate.”

Click to play video: 'Ontario urged to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine rollout'
Ontario urged to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Trudeau has maintained that by September the country will have enough doses to vaccinate every Canadian who wants a shot.

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Since the first vaccine was administered on Dec. 14, Canada has administered roughly 150,000 doses; more than 420,000 have been delivered to the provinces.

Just over a million Canadians would need to be vaccinated every week to reach the goal of vaccinating the entire population by September.

So far both vaccines approved for use in Canada — Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech — require two doses to be administered, several weeks apart

Click to play video: 'Coronavirus: Trudeau advises snowbirds travelling to U.S. for vaccine to stay home'
Coronavirus: Trudeau advises snowbirds travelling to U.S. for vaccine to stay home

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