Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

Canada on Wednesday approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, days after Britain became the first country to greenlight and roll it out.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a tweet called the announcement good news, but warned: "It doesn't mean we can let our guards down" against the spread of the COVID-19 illness as a second wave forced several regions to reintroduce restrictions.

The government's chief medical advisor Supriya Sharma said the authorization of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot "marks a critical milestone in our efforts to bring COVID-19 under control."

She said additional vaccines would become available and be rolled out throughout 2021, with three other vaccine candidates—including one developed by US-based Moderna, which could be delivered later this month—currently being evaluated by health authorities.

These, she said, will provide "every Canadian with the opportunity to be immunized."

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had undergone a fast-tracked review while it was still in clinical trials, which concluded that it met "stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements for use in Canada," said the country's health department, Health Canada.

The Gulf kingdom of Bahrain has also approved the vaccine.

Marc Berthiaume, director of Health Canada's bureau of medical science, said its evaluation found "strong evidence that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks."

The regulator advised, however, that it should be used only in people 16 years of age and up, for now.

Canada had pre-ordered 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine when it was still in development, with an option for 56 million additional doses.

Trudeau said on Monday that as many as 249,000 doses would be received in December.

The first shipments to 14 sites across Canada are scheduled to arrive Monday with people receiving shots a day or two later, according to Major-General Dany Fortin, a war-hardened commander put in charge of coordinating distribution.

Health care workers and vulnerable populations including the elderly are to be the first to receive it.

Source:

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-12-canada-pfizer-biontech-covid-vaccine.html