Canada Authorizes Pfizer's COVID Vaccine with US Approval Expected Within Days
Canada’s health regulator on Wednesday approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, days ahead of possible approval in the United States.
Health Canada announced that the vaccine made by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech is authorized.
The vaccine already has been approved by the United Kingdom and Bahrain and officials have said they expect U.S. approval within days.
“This is a critical milestone,” Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical advisor at Health Canada, said.
“Canadians can have confidence in our rigorous review process, and that the vaccine was only authorized only after a thorough assessment of the evidence demonstrated that it met Canada’s strict standards for safety, efficacy and quality.”
Health Canada said terms of the approval require the manufacturer to continue providing information on the safety, efficacy and quality of the vaccine.
Canada is set to receive up to 249,000 doses this month and Canadian officials expect to administer them within days.
Britain on Tuesday began vaccinations.
U.S. regulators on Tuesday also released their first evaluation of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine and confirmed that it offers strong protection.
Vaccines are emerging less than a year after the virus was even identified — a remarkable scientific achievement that shaved years off the usual process.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials are meeting on Thursday, as the agency’s independent advisers debate if the evidence is strong enough to recommend vaccinating millions of Americans.
“It is encouraging to see that our mRNA vaccine is now authorized in Canada. Following U.K. 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.
The FDA analyzed data and found that the Pfizer vaccine appears safe and more than 90 percent effective across patients of different ages, races and underlying health conditions.
Health Canada said the vaccine is for use in people 16 years of age or older, but noted Pfizer and BioNTech are running further clinical trials on children of all age groups.
Canada recently amended the contract with Pfizer so that it would deliver up to 249,000 doses this month. That will mean about 124,500 Canadians will get vaccinated at first, as two doses are required per person a few weeks apart.
Pfizer and BioNTech said it will supply a minimum of 20 million doses to Canada through 2021 and as many as 76 million.
Canada has contracts with six other vaccine makers and is currently reviewing three other vaccines, including one by Moderna that Canadian health officials said could be approved soon.
The government has said 14 distribution centers will be located in large Canadian cities initially. There will be at least one in each province and two each in Canada’s four largest provinces.
“This is phenomenal news for all Canadians as we take the next step toward ending this pandemic. As soon as vaccines arrive on Ontario soil, we will be ready to deliver and administer them,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a tweet.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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