Canada getting 168K Moderna vaccine doses before year end Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada is contracted to receive up to 168,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before the end of December, pending approval by Canada’s health regulatorTORONTO -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that Canada is contracted to receive up to 168,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before the end of December, 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. The Moderna vaccine was more than 94% effective overall at preventing COVID-19 illness, and 86% effective in people 65 and older. Trudeau noted the Moderna vaccine does not need some of the extra special handling requirements of the one from Pfizer, including ultra cold freezers.

Source: ABC News December 15, 2020 17:32 UTC