Canada Approves Pfizer Vaccine Use For Its Citizens

Pfizer Vaccine (doc. Between)

JAKARTA - Canada has approved the use of a vaccine from Pfizer Inc for handling COVID-19 in its country. The plan is that the vaccine will begin distribution throughout the country, next week.

Canada is the third country after Britain and Bahrain to give the green light for the Pfizer vaccine. The vaccine was developed by BioNTech SE in Germany.

"The vaccine agreement is supported by evidence that the vaccine is safe, effective and of good quality," Canada's Health Regulator said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters on Thursday, December 10.

The vaccine has also been approved under an interim drug review system with the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) emergency use authorization. Previously, FDA panelists were set to review and recommend whether health agencies and drugs should authorize the use of the Pfizer vaccine.

So far, a British national has been the first person to receive a shot of the Pfizer vaccine. In a large, late-stage trial, the vaccine proved to be 95 percent effective at preventing disease, much better than originally anticipated.

In the use of the Pfizer vaccine, UK drug regulators recommend that people with a significant history of allergies should not get the vaccine. After reports of allergic reactions from using Pfizer.

Responding to a question about allergic reactions, Health Canada officials said vaccines were always a risk, but they recommended that people who had previously had an adverse reaction to one of the ingredients in the vaccine should not take it now.

Officials said they would monitor developments in the UK to see if there were further implications for Canada. In fact, Canada will receive the initial delivery of 249,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine by the end of this month.

Earlier, the Prime Minister (PM) of Canada Justin Tredau has also released a vaccination plan for the people in his country. He is sure he can immunize Canadians in 2021.

"It is in a good position to immunize 100 percent of the population by 2021. General inoculation for all Canadians will begin in April once the priority population has been vaccinated," he said.

Later, Saskatchewan Province will be the first region to receive a vaccine dose. It is targeted that 1,950 people and medical personnel will get the COVID-19 vaccine first.

"Today's decision from the Canadian Health Regulator is a historic moment in our collective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and a major step towards returning to normal life in Canada," said Cole Pinnow, President of Pfizer Canada, in a statement.

So far Canada is in the middle of a second wave of the pandemic. As of Tuesday, Canada had reported total cases of 429,035, an increase of 5,981 the previous day, and 12,867 deaths.