NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Canada's federal health agency on Wednesday approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use in the country, one day before the FDA is expected to approve use of the vaccine in the U.S.
The agency, Health Canada, has deemed the vaccine effective and safe.
"After a thorough, independent review of the evidence, Health Canada has determined that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine meets the Department's stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements for use in Canada," Health Canada said in a statement.
It continued, "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."
The initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine are expected to arrive in Canada next week, and plans are already in place to have the shots ready to be administered at 14 delivery sites in major cities across Canada, within one or two days of shipments arriving.
By the end of December, Canada is set to receive up to 249,000 doses of this vaccine, or enough to vaccinate 124,500 people, given it requires two shots a few weeks apart.
Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin, the top military general leading the rollout from the Public Health Agency of Canada, is expecting a "constant flow" of doses to arrive -- up to four million by the end of March 2021.
