OTTAWA–Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce that Maj.-Gen Dany Fortin, a former NATO commander and the Canadian Armed Forces’ head of Joint Operations Command, will be tasked with co-ordinating Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
Trudeau was scheduled to address the country on Friday morning.
CTV News reported Friday morning that Fortin, the former commander of NATO’s operations in Iraq, will lead the federal efforts to distribute an eventual COVID-19 vaccine. CAF teams have already begun working with the Public Health Agency of Canada on the vaccine’s eventual roll out. A senior government source confirmed CTV’s report to the Star.
“Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Armed Forces has been working closely with our federal, provincial, and territorial partners to support the overall … COVID-19 response,” the Department of National Defence wrote in a statement to the Star on Thursday.
“That is why CAF/DND is supporting the Public Health Agency of Canada in their coordination of the national COVID-19 vaccine strategy, including by providing personnel who are sharing their expertise and experience to assist PHAC during this planning phase.”
DND did not respond to follow up questions Thursday about how many CAF personnel are involved in the vaccine roll out and what specifically they’re tasked with.
