Quebec City-based Medicago has run into obstacles getting the World Health Organization to approve its vaccine because the company is part-owned by tobacco giant Philip Morris, and the WHO has a policy against engaging with tobacco or weapons companies. (Bloomberg)

Talking point: In February, Health Canada approved Medicago’s shot for people aged 18 to 64. It’s produced using particles produced in Nicotiana benthamiana plants, a relative of tobacco that’s useful in virology because it’s unusually vulnerable to viral infections. (The technology grew out of research at Laval University.) Anti-tobacco advocates have criticized the federal government’s financial support for Medicago, questioning whether fighting one public health threat justifies working with the authors of another. Canada agreed to buy up to 76 million doses of Medicago’s COVID-19 shot, but now has little need for them at home, and without WHO approval, we can’t contribute them to other countries through the COVAX sharing system.