Covid: Canada latest country to approve Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine
Canada's health regulator has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, the day after the UK became the first country in the world to roll it out.
Health Canada called the authorisation a "milestone" in the country's fight against coronavirus. The agency said the vaccine met its "stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements".
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is set to receive up to 249,000 doses of the vaccine this month.
In total, the Canadian government has purchased 20 million doses of the vaccine - enough to inoculate 10 million people - with the option to buy 56 million more.
On Tuesday, a UK grandmother was the first person in the world to be given the jab as part of a mass vaccination programme.
Bahrain has also approved the emergency use of the vaccine.
Health Canada said it approved the vaccine on Wednesday "after a thorough, independent review of the evidence".
The announcement clears the way for doses to be delivered and administered across the country. Officials say Canada has 14 distribution sites equipped with the necessary cold storage for the vaccine.
Canada's health regulator has approved the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, the day after the UK became the first country in the world to roll it out.
Health Canada called the authorisation a "milestone" in the country's fight against coronavirus. The agency said the vaccine met its "stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements".
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is set to receive up to 249,000 doses of the vaccine this month.
In total, the Canadian government has purchased 20 million doses of the vaccine - enough to inoculate 10 million people - with the option to buy 56 million more.
On Tuesday, a UK grandmother was the first person in the world to be given the jab as part of a mass vaccination programme.
Bahrain has also approved the emergency use of the vaccine.
Health Canada said it approved the vaccine on Wednesday "after a thorough, independent review of the evidence".
The announcement clears the way for doses to be delivered and administered across the country. Officials say Canada has 14 distribution sites equipped with the necessary cold storage for the vaccine.
Healthcare workers and vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, will be among the first to receive it.
The vaccine has initially been authorised for use on people aged 16 and over.
Pfizer Canada said the approval marked "a historic step forward in our efforts to reduce the number of Canadians suffering from this devastating virus".
Dec 10, 2020
https://www.bbc.com/
