ottawa — health canada has approved the covid-19 vaccine from pfizer and biontech, paving the way for vaccinations to begin countrywide next week.
prime minister justin trudeau said monday canada’s updated contract with the u.s. drugmaker and its german partner should see 249,000 doses shipped to canada by the end of the month. but that was always pending the vaccine being deemed safe by health canada.
the regulatory team issued that determination this morning.
“canadians can feel confident that the review process was rigorous and that we have strong monitoring systems in place. health canada and the public health agency of canada will closely monitor the safety of the vaccine once it is on the market and will not hesitate to take action if any safety concerns are identified,” a statement from the department said.
ontario premier doug ford, whose province recorded 1,890 new covid-19 cases this morning and added 28 people to the death toll, called it “phenomenal news.”“as soon as vaccines arrive on ontario soil, we will be ready to deliver and administer them,” he said in a statement. “friends, the light at the end of the tunnel grows brighter.”
canada is the second country in the world to greenlight the pfizer/biontech vaccine.