Canadian drug regulator has approved AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for adults aged 18 and above.
Health Canada has announced that it has approved two versions of the COVID-19 vaccine, one that AstraZeneca produced in partnership with Oxford University and the one that was produced by the Serum Institute of India.
AstraZeneca’s vaccine happens to be the third vaccine that Canada has approved for use. In December 2020, Canada approved vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
Canada entered into an agreement with AstraZeneca in September to produce 20 million doses vaccine.
The approval came at a time when Canada’s vaccination effort is adjudged to started slowly.
According to Bloomberg News, Canada has administered at least 1.68 million doses which covers 4.5 percent of the country’s entire population.
Health Canada disclosed that AstraZeneca’s two-dose vaccine recorded about 62 percent success rate in tackling symptomatic COVID-19 starting two weeks after the second dose.
According to Health Canada, the vaccine is given in two doses ranging from four to 12 weeks apart.
Date from Johns Hopkins University revealed that Canada has recorded 863,495 cases of coronavirus infections and over 21,000 deaths.
