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Summary
- The first Pfizer-BioNTech COVID shot in Canada was reportedly administered to an 89-year-old woman from Quebec named Gisèle Lévesque.
- Prime Minister Trudeau described the vaccination as a “big step”, but he stressed that the country is “not out of the woods yet”.
- Canada is now the third country in the world to have administered the vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE, PFE:US) and its German partner BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX).
- Canada is scheduled to receive about 249,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of December 2020, PM Trudeau announced earlier in the month.
COVID-19 inoculation campaign kick-started in Canada on Monday, December 14, after the first batch of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines reached the country on Sunday night.
The vaccination process was initiated with frontline health care workers and residents of elderly home care facilities, with the first shot reportedly being administered to an 89-year-old woman from Quebec named Gisèle Lévesque.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also tweeted a clip of a personal support worker from Toronto, named Anita Quidangen, receiving one of the first COVID-19 shots in the country. The video showed health care officials standing around Quidangen applauding as she received the injection.
Prime Minister Trudeau described the vaccination as a “big step”, but he stressed that the country is “not out of the woods yet”.
Canada is now the third country in the world to have administered the vaccine produced by Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE, PFE:US) and its German partner BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX).
Canada Scheduled To Receive About 249,000 Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine Doses
Quebec's Health Minister Christian Dube reportedly said that about 150 residents of the province were in line to get the injection at Maimonides on Monday. He added that at least 50,000 Quebecers are expected to get vaccinated by January 4 next year.
©Kalkine Group Image
Prime Minister Trudeau broke the news of Canada receiving its first consignment of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines late on Sunday night. A shipment of about 30,000 doses reached Mirabel International Airport in Montreal, and was then sent forward to 14 distribution sites across Canada.
Canada is scheduled to receive about 249,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of December 2020 and another shipment of three million doses by January next year, PM Trudeau announced earlier in December.
As of now, only people over the age of 16 are reportedly eligible for the Pfizer drug, while the clinical trials for children continue.
National health care regulator Health Canada is currently said to be reviewing COVID-19 vaccine candidates from three other pharmaceutical companies. So far, the Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA, MRNA: US) shot is showing most advanced results, as per reports.
The Canadian government has so far pre-ordered some 20 million doses from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE. As for its deals with all the pharmaceutical companies put together, Canada is reportedly in line to receive over 400 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines for its strength of about 38 million people.
