Canadian government approves Pfizer COVID vaccine

Canadian government approves Pfizer COVID vaccine

FILE - In this file photo dated Wednesday, July 22, 2020, a Pfizer sign is seen on a podium at the Pfizer Research & Development Laboratories, in Groton, USA. The U.K. health authorities rolled out a national mass vaccination program Tuesday Dec. 8, 2020, using the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. U.K. regulators said Wednesday Dec. 9, 2020, that people who have a “significant history’’ of allergic reactions shouldn’t receive the new Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine while they investigate two adverse reactions that occurred on the first day of the country’s mass vaccination program. (AP Photo/Stew Milne)

TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s health regulator has approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Health Canada posted on it is website Wednesday that the vaccine made by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech is authorized. Canada is set to receive up to 249,000 doses this month and 4 million doses of the vaccine by March. The Canadian government has purchased 20 million doses of that vaccine, which requires people to receive two doses each, and it has the option to buy 56 million more.Health Canada is reviewing three other vaccine candidates, including one from Moderna.

Photo:  (AP Photo/Stew Milne)