AUS
NZ
UK
CA
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Summary
- Canadians will start getting Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine by next week following Health Canada’s approval, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday.
- PM Trudeau said that about 249,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine would reach Canada by December-end and another batch of three million doses should arrive at the start of 2021.
- Canada reportedly has a reservation of more than 400 million COVID-19 vaccines with different brands.
After a series of attacks from opposition Conservatives, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday, December 7, that Canadians will start getting Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine by next week, pending Health Canada approval. The administration of the vaccine, on the basis of priority, would be sooner than earlier expected.
Canada was originally estimating a receival of some six million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE, PFE:US) and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ: MRNA, MRNA: US) by the end of March 2021.
But PM Trudeau announced on Monday at the Parliament Hill that about 249,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine would reach Canada by December-end and another batch of three million doses should arrive at the start of 2021.
Three northern territories in Canada have reportedly asked for the Moderna vaccine as it does not require cold storage temperatures like Pfizer’s.
Canada Has Sufficient COVID Vaccine Doses: Trudeau
PM Trudeau faced a lot of heat in November after he said that due to the lack of manufacturing capacities at home, Canada would not be the first in line for COVID-19 vaccines. He had said that vaccination would begin in the country in early 2021 and there would enough doses for about three million Canadians at first.
Now, with the Pfizer vaccine campaigns likely to begin before the end of this year, Canada is one of the top countries across the world for vaccine contracts.
Also, with all the vaccine doses that the government has reserved with different brands, and considering that they are approved by health regulators, Canada reportedly has enough medicine for over 400 per cent of its population.
Suppliers Of COVID Vaccines
Moderna Inc is set to supply about 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses and an additional 36 million, if need be. Pfizer Inc is expected to send a total of about 76 million of its COVID vaccine doses.
The Canadian government is said to have also reserved about 76 million doses of the Novavax Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX) vaccine, about 38 million shots of the Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) drug and some 20 million shots of the AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN)-University of Oxford vaccine.
This brings Canada’s total vaccine access to more than 400 million, as per media reports.
Canada is currently in the clutches of a second wave of the coronavirus infections, with several provinces reimposing lockdown. The country has reported at least 415,182 COVID-19 cases and 12,665 deaths so far.
