On Wednesday, Canada approved its first COVID vaccine, developed by Pfizer in association with BioNTech, clearing the way for doses to be delivered and administered across the nation.
Canada becomes the third nation to give the green light to the coronavirus vaccine after the United Kingdom and Bahrain. It has a temporary accelerated drug review system that is quite similar to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA).
Health Canada said, “The approval of the vaccine is supported by evidence that it is safe, effective and of good quality.” The vaccine has initially been approved for use in people 16 and above.
The news comes a day after UK citizens become the first to get the vaccine and before a panel of the FDA is set to review and recommend whether it should authorize the use of the Pfizer vaccine.
Canada is set to receive an early shipment of nearly 250,000 doses of Pfizer’s vaccine this year.
The province of Saskatchewan said it will receive enough doses for 1,950 people by next week to inoculate health workers who are in direct contact with coronavirus patients.
Cole Pinnow, President, Pfizer Canada, said, “Today’s decision from Health Canada is a historic moment in our collective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and is a major step towards returning to normalcy in Canada.”
On December 2, the UK became the first nation to approve the two-dose Pfizer vaccine after the company claimed that its vaccine has been found 95% effective in late-stage clinical trials.
Canada will get 20 million doses of the vaccine, which is enough to inoculate 10 million people, with an option to buy up to 56 million more.
In early November, the federal government said vulnerable people and health workers who look after them are a high priority, including long-term care residents.
The FDA has received EUA applications for three other vaccine candidates developed by Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson.
So far, the Moderna vaccine is the second on the list, having completed phase 3 trials that showed more than 94% efficacy at preventing mild to moderate COVID and 100% at preventing severe infection. Officials have said they will receive six million doses of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines before April 2021. The companies said their vaccines require two doses given about 21 days apart.
