Economics

Slow Vaccine Rollout Is a Risk to Canada’s Recovery, BMO Says

  • Canada an ‘underperformer’ with inoculations trailing U.S.
  • Country needs to vaccinate 550,000 per week to hit 60% by fall
Doses of Covid-19 vaccine are prepared at a Toronto clinic in December.Photographer: Cole Burston/Bloomberg
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Canada’s vaccine rollout has been slower than expected and the laggardly pace could prompt a reassessment of how robust the country’s economic recovery will be, according to Bank of Montreal.

Only 0.32% of the Canadian population had been inoculated as of Monday, making it a “relative underperformer” versus peers such as the U.S. and the U.K., which have both vaccinated 1.4%, Doug Porter, chief economist at the Toronto-based lender, said Tuesday in a report to investors.