The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau has said that Canada is set to receive up to 168,000 doses of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before the end of December 2020, pending Canada’s health regulator’s approval.
According to Trudeau, the deliveries could commence within 48 hours of health regulator’s approval and health officials have said that they expect to approve the use of the vaccine very soon.
Canadians have started getting vaccine shots manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech and Trudeau revealed that Canada hopes to receive around 200,000 doses from Pfizer next week. An initial batch of 30,000 was received by Canada this week.
Trudeau made it known that up to 70 sites would be in place to administer these doses next week.
The United States Food and Drug Administration said its initial analysis confirmed the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine developed by Moderna. A panel of experts outside United States will vote to recommend the vaccine soon while a final decision by the FDA will come thereafter.
Moderna’s vaccine and Pfizer’s vaccine are the same as they were manufactured with the same technology. While scrutinizing early results of the 30,000-person va cine trial, the FDA discovered they both work the same way.
The Moderna vaccine has above 94% overall effectiveness at preventing COVID-19 illness and has 86% effectiveness in people aged 65 and above. The FDA has so far uncovered no major safety issues.
