The federal government has signed a new deal with GlaxoSmithKline for influenza vaccines.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced the contract Friday in Quebec City, a four-year pact to produce and deliver domestic pandemic influenza vaccines with five one-year options to follow.
Canada has had a deal with GlaxoSmithKline for influenza vaccines since 2001.
Duclos says the deal includes an option to procure 80 million doses of influenza vaccine if a pandemic occurs and a minimum of four million doses annually to be used in publicly funded vaccination programs.
Historically, influenza pandemics have occurred every 11 to 40 years, the most recent being the H1N1 pandemic in 2009.
The first influenza vaccine deliveries for 2022 are scheduled for September and October.
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