OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian health authorities could complete their regulatory review of Pfizer Inc’s coronavirus vaccine within the next week or 10 days, a senior medical official said on Thursday.
Although Canada has signed supply deals with seven manufacturers, officials say the first decision is set to be on the vaccine Pfizer has developed with its German partner BioNTech SE.
“Things have been progressing really well, and we’re expecting within the next week to 10 days to be making a final decision,” said Supriya Sharma, chief medical adviser to the top official at Health Canada, the federal health ministry.
Sharma told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp that officials were expecting more information from the manufacturer over the next few days.
“I think we’re saying around mid-December at the latest, but it really depends on the data,” she said. Britain on Wednesday became the first country to approve the Pfizer candidate.
A second wave of the virus is sweeping Canada, setting daily records for the number of new cases. So far, Canada has reported a total of 389,778 cases of COVID-19 and 12,325 deaths.
Officials said they expect the first vaccine doses to arrive in the first quarter of next year. The premier of the western province of Alberta said on Wednesday that Ottawa had told him to expect deliveries starting on Jan. 4.
Health Canada is also reviewing vaccine candidates from AstraZeneca Plc, Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson but has announced no decisions.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
