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Authorities say the Moderna vaccine will be distributed to remote and isolated communities in northern Canada.
Canada received its first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna Inc, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday, as the country urged people to limit their contacts during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Trudeau said the first shipment of Moderna vaccines is part of the 168,000 doses Canada expects to receive before the end of December.
“These are part of the 168,000 doses that we will receive before the end of the month, and part of the 40 million doses that Moderna guarantees us in general,” he tweeted.
Health Canada approved the Moderna vaccine for use in Canada on Wednesday, saying it had met the agency’s “strict safety, efficacy and quality requirements.”
The first doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Canada. These are part of the 168,000 doses that we will receive before the end of the month, and part of the 40 million doses that Moderna guarantees us in general. pic.twitter.com/eKhQ6v8xSA
– Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) Dec 24, 2020
Canada is the second country to approve the Moderna vaccine, after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved it on December 18 for emergency use.
Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is the second approved in Canada after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which is already being administered to healthcare workers and residents of long-term care homes in several provinces.
Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Moderna vaccine does not have to be kept in ultra-low freezing temperatures, and Canadian officials said they plan to ship it to more remote areas of the country.
“The different storage and handling requirements for Modern COVID-19 vaccine mean that it can be distributed to isolated and remote communities, including territories,” Health Canada said this week.
Anita Anand, Canada’s Minister of Public Services and Procurement, tweeted Thursday that Moderna’s first shipment “will be the first # COVID19 vaccine deployed in northern Canada.”
1 / Just one day after approval from Health Canada, I am happy to be available when Moderna vaccine hits 🇨🇦! This is the first shipment of a total of 40 million doses that our government has acquired from Moderna and it will be the first # COVID-19 vaccine deployed in northern Canada. pic.twitter.com/b1TR9mFbXG
– Anita Anand (@AnitaOakville) Dec 24, 2020
The minister of health and social services for Yukon, one of Canada’s northern territories, said in a statement Wednesday that the approval of the Moderna vaccine was “exciting news that the people of Yukon have been waiting for.”
Pauline Frost said Yukon expects to receive an initial shipment of 7,200 doses of the vaccine to inoculate 3,600 people with two injections. As of Thursday morning, the territory had no active cases of COVID-19.
“Yukon will receive enough doses to vaccinate 75 percent of the eligible adult population by early 2021,” Frost said, adding that residents and long-term care staff would receive the vaccine first.
Canada is battling an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations across the country.
On Thursday, the most populous province, Ontario, reported 2,447 new COVID-19 infections, its highest count in a single day since the start of the pandemic, and an additional 49 deaths related to the novel coronavirus.
Health officials in neighboring Quebec also reported a one-day high with 2,349 new cases, as well as 46 more deaths.
Both the Quebec and Ontario governments are preparing to implement new restrictions in the coming days as part of their efforts to stop the spread of the virus.
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