Canada awaits 168K doses of Moderna shot

TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that Canada is contracted to receive up to 168,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before year’s end, pending approval by Canada’s health regulator.

Trudeau said deliveries could begin within 48 hours of regulatory approval, and health officials said they expect to approve use of the Moderna vaccine soon.

Canadians began receiving vaccine shots developed by Pfizer and Biontech on Monday, and Trudeau said Canada expects to receive about 200,000 doses from Pfizer next week after an initial batch of 30,000.

Trudeau said they will have 70 sites ready to administer doses next week, up from 14 sites this week.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said its preliminary analysis confirmed the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health, bringing it to the cusp of U.S. authorization. A panel of outside U.S. experts is expected to vote to recommend the vaccine Thursday, with a final FDA decision coming soon thereafter.

Moderna’s vaccine is made with the same technology as Pfizer’s. In scrutinizing early results of a 30,000-person study, the FDA found it also worked just about the same.

The Moderna vaccine was more than 94 percent effective overall at preventing COVID-19 illness, and 86 percent effective in people 65 and older. The FDA uncovered no major safety issues.

Trudeau noted that the Moderna vaccine does not need some of the special handling requirements of the Pfizer shot, including ultra-cold freezers.

“That makes it a better option to ship over long distance to remote areas, so doses of this vaccine will be directed to the north as well as remote and Indigenous territories,” Trudeau said.