Live Updates: Canada approves Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Canadian health officials on Wednesday approved Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, becoming the second Western country to do so in recent days, following the U.K.
“We are proud to announce that Health Canada has granted Authorization under Interim Order for the emergency use of Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine. This is a historic step forward in our efforts to reduce the number of Canadians suffering from this devastating virus,” Pfizer Canada said on Twitter.
The interim order that helped hasten the approval process is similar to emergency use authorizations (EUAs) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The vaccine is available for those over 16, due to limited data on younger pediatric patients.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FAST FACTS
- Canada has reported over 435,000 coronavirus infections, with nearly 13,000 related deaths
- The U.S. leads the world with the most reported cases of COVID-19 at over 15 million infections and over 286,000 related deaths
Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has reportedly recommended that residents and staff of long-term care facilities, front-line health care workers, as well as adults 70 years of age or older and adults in Indigenous communities should receive the initial vaccine doses.
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