BFF-48 Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine

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BFF-48

HEALTH-VIRUS-CANADA

Canada approves Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine

OTTAWA, Canada, Dec 9, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Canada on Wednesday
approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, days after Britain
became the first country to greenlight and roll it out.

“Today, Canada reached a critical milestone in its fight against
Covid-19 with the authorization of the first Covid-19 vaccine,” Health
Canada said in a statement.

The vaccine, it said, 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.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that as many as 249,000
doses would be received in December, with the first shipments to 14
sites across Canada arriving as early as next week and people
receiving shots a day or two later.

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

By September 2021, Trudeau said, most Canadians should be inoculated.

Thousands of Britons became the first in the Western world to
receive the vaccine on Tuesday at the start of the biggest global
vaccination drive in more than half a century.

The vaccine — which proved to be 95 percent effective in late-stage
clinical trials — is administered in two doses, 21 days apart.

British health officials, however, warned on Wednesday that anyone
with a history of significant allergic reactions should not get it
right away, after two people suffered allergic reactions and needed
treatment.

US giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech called Canada’s
interim order for its emergency use “a historic moment in our
collective fight against the Covid-19 pandemic” and “a major step
towards returning to normalcy in Canada.”

They will continue providing data on its use for ongoing evaluation,
according to Canada’s health department.

The federal government, meanwhile, has concluded pre-orders with
several pharmaceutical companies — including AstraZeneca, Pfizer and
BioNTech, Sanofi and GSK, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson, Medicago and
Moderna — for 400 million doses, to ensure it eventually gets what it
needs for its population of 38 million.

BSS/AFP/MRU/2356hrs