Canada will have 249,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses by end of December
- Michael Kras
- 08 Dec 2020
Looks like Canada could be getting its first batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses even sooner than expected, as the federal government has confirmed the country will likely be receiving its first doses this month.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a press conference Monday that the federal government has secured up to 249,000 initial doses of the FDA-approved Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which is enough to vaccinate as many as 124,500 Canadians using the vaccine’s required double dose regimen.
UPDATE ON VACCINES: Canada has secured an agreement with Pfizer to begin early delivery of doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine. We’re scheduled to receive up to 249,000 of our initial doses this month, with millions more on the way.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) December 7, 2020
The initial doses could start to roll out to Canadians as soon as next week pending Health Canada approval ensuring no corners have been cut. From there, further doses would continue to arrive in early 2021, according to Trudeau.
Canada has signed a deal with Pfizer to purchase at least 76 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine, which has shown to be a staggering 95 per cent effective and cause no serious side effects.
What isn’t yet clear is how this initial batch of vaccine doses will be distributed across the country, nor precisely who will be granted first access for immunization; though, it would make the most sense for healthcare and other frontline workers as well as vulnerable populations to get their first chance at a shot.
Ontario itself is expected to receive 85,000 doses out of this first batch.
Read more here.
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