By Elishya Perera
MONTRÉAL, Québec (CWBN)_ Health Canada approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccines yesterday (Dec 9), and hopes to begin vaccinating Canadians next week.
Calling this a “momentous occasion”, the Canadian regulator’s chief medical adviser, Dr. Supriya Sharma, said that back when the virus was first discovered, no one would have thought a vaccine would be authorised and distributed less than a year later.
Sharma assured that the vaccine was authorised after “a thorough assessment of the evidence”, which were consistent with Canada’s stringent standards for “safety, efficacy and quality”, and therefore, insisted that Canadians should feel comfortable getting the shot.
Moreover, as part of the terms of approval, the country’s regulator requires the manufacturer to continue providing information on the vaccine.
Canada is set to receive 249,000 doses of the vaccine made by US drug maker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech, this month. The initial batch will be shipped from Belgium on Friday, and officials hope to begin administering 30,000 doses next week.
Accordingly, Canada is the third country to approve the Pfizer vaccine, which was authorised for use by the United Kingdom and Bahrain within the past week.
“It is encouraging to see that our mRNA vaccine is now authorized in Canada. Following UK and Bahrain, it is the third country to approve use of our vaccine within a week,” Sean Marett, BioNTech’s chief business and chief commercial officer, said.
US regulators, on the other hand, in its first scientific evaluation issued on Tuesday (Dec 8), confirmed the Pfizer vaccine offers strong protection against the virus, and officials have said they expect US authorisation within the coming days.
Canada has signed advance purchase agreements with six other vaccine makers and is currently reviewing three other vaccines, including the one by Moderna, which Canadian health officials say could be approved soon.
“We have a reason to feel optimistic and excited about returning to the lives we had pre-COVID,” Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer, said. “We anticipate having approved vaccines for 3 million Canadians between January and March with supply ramping up the rest of 2021.”
