Threats to coronavirus vaccines among reasons military leading rollout: Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the possibility of threats to the country’s precious supply of coronavirus vaccines is among the reasons why the military is leading distribution.

In a year-end interview, Trudeau was asked about the security of the vaccine rollout following comments from B.C.’s top doctor, as well as the military head of the distribution effort, that acknowledged there are indications the vaccines or their rollout could be targeted.

“That’s one of the reasons why we’re so pleased to have the Canadian Armed Forces’ Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin in charge of the logistics and the delivery of vaccines,” Trudeau said when asked whether he was concerned there could be an attempt to hijack or attack the vaccines.

“They are assessing, as they always do, all sorts of potential threats — from storms to criminal activities — to make sure not just that we’re protecting those vaccines, but that we’re protecting the integrity of the supply chain.”

The coronavirus has ravaged the globe since it was first identified on Dec. 31, 2019, in China.

The World Health Organization declared a pandemic in early March and in the roughly 10 months since, Canada and countries around the world have fought to contain the spread of the highly contagious virus even as vast and serious ranges of symptoms have continued to alarm scientists.

Global scientific attention has narrowed to a hyper-focus on finding a vaccine in the hope that societies and economies can safely reopen from the restrictions put in place to limit the spread.

More than 1.6 million people around the world who contracted the virus have died.