Mark Machin, head of Canada’s largest pension fund, got a Covid-19 vaccine in the Middle East, according to people familiar with the matter, ahead of millions of Canadians waiting for one of the Western world’s slowest rollouts.
The 54-year-old chief executive of the $ 379 billion Canada Pension Plan Investment Board arrived with his partner in the United Arab Emirates earlier this month and received the first dose of a vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech SE, people said. familiar with the case. He has told the contacts that he was using local connections to obtain the vaccines, some of these people said, and he has stayed in the UAE and will receive his second dose in the coming weeks, they said.
Mr. Machin did not comment when reached by phone and email. A CPPIB spokesperson and Mr Machin said he had “very personal” reasons for traveling to the UAE. “I can assure you that no influence has been used or attempted to be applied” to get him to obtain the vaccine, the spokesman said.
The CPPIB is a crown corporation, meaning it is run independently of the federal government, but is the steward of pension liabilities mandated by the government. It reports to a board of directors selected by the Canadian Treasury Secretary.
A spokeswoman for the Canadian Treasury Department said that “while the CPPIB is an independent organization, this is very disturbing. The federal government has made it clear to Canadians that now is not the time to travel abroad. We have not been informed of this trip. “