Health Canada approves Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

Health Canada has officially approved the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for use in Canada.

“Thanks to advances in science and technology and a level of global cooperation today, Canada reached a critical milestone in its fight against COVID-19 with the authorization of the first COVID-19 vaccine. Health Canada received Pfizer’s submission on Oct. 9, 2020 and after a thorough independent review of the evidence, HC has determined that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine meets the department’s stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements for use in Canada.”

—Health Canada

The federal government has secured 249,000 doses of the vaccine and is due to receive the first batch by the end of next week, to be distributed and administered by the provinces. More news about the rollout plan on the federal level is expected at a press conference at 1 p.m. today. Health Canada will hold a press conference at noon.

This seal of approval by the government agency has arrived even before the vaccine has been greenlit by their American counterparts, the FDA. Canada is only the third country in the world to have approved the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, which has been approved in Bahrain and is already being administered in the U.K. ■

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