Canada Approves Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine as U.S. Awaits Decision
Canada has become the third country in the world to approve Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, leapfrogging the United States in its effort to secure access to the critical drug.
Health Canada announced on its website on Wednesday morning that the two-dose vaccine made by US drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech had been granted interim authorization. The approval comes as Canada continues to post record levels of infection from the coronavirus ahead of the Christmas holidays.
“Canadians can feel confident that the review process was rigorous and that we have strong monitoring systems in place. Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada will closely monitor the safety of the vaccine once it is on the market and will not hesitate to take action if any safety concerns are identified,” Health Canada said in a statement.
The vaccine has already been approved by the United Kingdom and Bahrain. Health Canada was able to speed up the regulatory review of the Pfizer vaccine by assessing rolling information throughout the course of the study, rather than waiting until the end of the company’s testing to begin reviewing the findings. Officials in the United States expect approval in the coming days.
