Canada’s first vaccinations against COVID-19 could begin happening as early as next week, pending Health Canada approval.
Canada will be receiving an initial batch of up to 249,000 doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine before the end of December, with the first shipment expected next week, and could be put into prioritized people’s arms very soon after.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is making the announcement on Parliament Hill, alongside Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo, and Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin.
“The first shipment of doses is tracking for delivery next week. Shipments will continue to arrive into 2021, with millions of doses on the way. This will move us forward on our whole timeline of vaccine rollout, and is a positive development in getting Canadians protected as soon as possible,” said Trudeau.
Fortin said that within one or two days of the shipment arriving in Canada, vaccines could be ready to be administered.
Health Canada has not yet approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine candidate for use in this country, though senior officials have signalled that the independent agency is close to completing its efficacy and safety assessment and it could come this week. It began scrutinizing the data from Pfizer’s clinical trials in early October.
The delivery of these doses will be contingent on the vaccine being deemed safe for use in Canada.
The initial doses will arrive in a series of shipments and altogether would be enough to fully vaccinate approximately 125,500 Canadians, as the vaccine requires two needles, weeks apart. It’s possible the government could begin inoculating a larger number with the initial batch as they are anticipating a steady stream of additional doses in the weeks ahead.
They will be the first allotment of what was Canada’s deal for up to 76 million doses from the pharmaceutical giant. Initially, the country is only anticipating receiving up to four million of those doses by March 2021.
--with files from CTV News--