OTTAWA – Health Canada has authorized the first COVID-19 vaccine.
The department on Wednesday announced that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine meets Canada’s stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements for use across the country.
In a release, the department said it received Pfizer’s submission for approval on Oct. 9. Health Canada plans to publish a number of documents related to the decision, adding more information will be available in coming weeks, including a detailed scientific summary and the full clinical trial data package.
Health Canada says it plans to closely monitor the safety of the vaccine once it starts being distributed to the public and will take immediate action if any safety concerns are identified.
The United Kingdom, where the vaccine received its first approval, is warning anyone with serious allergies not to take the vaccine, which requires two doses to be effective.
Canada is expected to get an initial batch of 249,000 doses of the vaccine, which will be given to front-line workers and the country’s most vulnerable populations first, before being more widely distributed to the general public.
For now the vaccine is for use in people 16 years of age and older, though trials are being done on children of all ages.
