Canada wasted billions of dollars on vaccines against covid-19 unused funds and pandemic aid to people who were not eligible to receive it, an audit of the government’s response to the health crisis released Tuesday found.
In reports submitted to the Canadian Parliament, Auditor General Karen Hogan argued that the government moved quickly to implement covid-19 emergency aimed at alleviating the effects of the pandemic and helping the economy recover.
By relying on information provided by applicants and limiting checks to expedite payments, the government “recognized that there was a risk that some payments would go to ineligible recipients,” Hogan admitted.
However, time is now running out to recover those overpayments totaling C$4.6 billion (about $3.4 billion US) as the statutory 36-month deadline approaches, it warned.
We estimate that at least C$27.4 billion in payments to individuals and employers should be further investigated.”
As of mid-2022, only C$2.3 billion in overpayments had been recovered through voluntary repayments.
In its quest to secure vaccines to reduce Canadians’ risk of serious illness, hospitalization or death, the government has also overpurchased doses of immunizers, the auditor general said.
Ottawa signed advance purchase agreements with seven companies that were developing vaccines against Covid-19, and between December 2020 and May 2022 it obtained 169 million doses, much more than what was needed to vaccinate its population of 38 million.
