Canada receives first cargo of Moderna COVID vaccines

Canada receives first shipment of Moderna COVID vaccines

Officials say Moderna vaccine will likely be distributed to distant, remoted communities in northern Canada.

Canada has obtained its first cargo of Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccines, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned Thursday, because the nation urged individuals to restrict their contacts throughout the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

Trudeau mentioned the primary cargo of Moderna vaccines is a part of the 168,000 doses that Canada expects to obtain earlier than the tip of December.

“These are part of the 168,000 doses we’ll be getting before the end of the month, and part of the 40 million doses we’re guaranteed from Moderna overall,” he tweeted.

Health Canada on Wednesday accepted the Moderna vaccine to be used in Canada, saying it had met the company’s “stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements”.

Canada is the second nation to approve the Moderna vaccine, after the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 18 accepted it for emergency use.

Moderna’s COVID-19 shot is the second accepted in Canada after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is already being administered to healthcare employees and long-term care dwelling residents in a number of provinces.

Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine doesn’t need to be stored at ultra-low freezing temperatures, and Canadian officers mentioned they plan to ship it to extra distant areas of the nation.

“The different storage and handling requirements of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine mean that it can be distributed to isolated and remote communities, including the territories,” Health Canada mentioned this week.

Anita Anand, Canada’s minister of public providers and procurement, tweeted Thursday that the primary Moderna cargo “will be the first #COVID19 vaccine deployed in Canada’s North”.

 

The well being and social providers minister for Yukon, one in all Canada’s northern territories, mentioned in a press release Wednesday that the Moderna vaccine approval was “exciting news Yukoners have been waiting for”.

Pauline Frost mentioned Yukon expects to obtain an preliminary cargo of seven,200 doses of the vaccine to inoculate 3,600 individuals with two photographs. As of Thursday morning, the territory had no lively circumstances of COVID-19.

“Yukon will receive enough doses to vaccinate 75 percent of the eligible adult population in early 2021,” mentioned Frost, including that long-term care residents and workers would obtain the vaccine first.

Canada is battling a surge in COVID-19 circumstances and hospitalisations throughout the nation.

On Thursday, essentially the most populous province, Ontario, reported 2,447 new COVID-19 infections – its highest single-day tally because the begin of the pandemic – and 49 extra deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.

Health officers in neighbouring Quebec additionally reported a single-day excessive with 2,349 new circumstances, in addition to 46 extra deaths.

Both the Quebec and Ontario governments are making ready to place new restrictions in place within the coming days as a part of their efforts to stem the unfold of the virus.

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