Health Canada has approved Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE’s (NASDAQ:BNTX) Covid-19 vaccine.
“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 written statement, released one day after the United Kingdom began the world’s first vaccination program against Covid-19.
The vaccine’s approval in Canada paves the way for the federal government to begin its campaign to vaccinate as many Canadians as possible against the virus, which has killed more that 12,800 people so far.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last month that a majority the population should be able to get vaccinated by September 2021.
Health Canada said it expects to complete vaccinations by the end of 2021. That will depend on approval of other vaccines. Canada, with a population of 38 million people, has secured 20 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, more doses per person than any other country.
Health Canada said it is currently reviewing three other vaccine candidates. Moderna Inc.’s (NASDAQ:MRNA) vaccine is the most advanced of the three in the government’s approval process.