Minister Justin Trudeau comments on the shooting in Nova Scotia
during a news conference April 20, 2020 in Ottawa, Canada. Dave
Chan / AFP
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he was
encouraged by Pfizer and BioNTech’s announcement that their
Covid-19 vaccine in trials proved 90 percent effective, adding it
could be available in Canada in early 2021.
The two pharmaceutical companies said the vaccine they have
jointly developed had during Phase 3 trials provided protection to
nearly all patients seven days after the second of two vaccine
doses.
At a news conference, Trudeau called the results “promising.”
“We see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
The prime minister said he expects the vaccine to be distributed
to Canadians “most likely in the first three months of 2021.”
“But,” he added, “there is a lot of uncertainty involved in
these processes.”
Canada signed a deal with US giant Pfizer and its German partner
BioNTech in August for a minimum of 20 million doses of their
vaccine.
It was at the time the most advanced vaccine candidate in
development among several of which Canada secured access.
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Other agreements were signed with AstraZeneca, Sanofi and GSK,
Novavax, Johnson & Johnson, Medicago and Moderna for a total of
more than 300 million doses for its population of 38 million.
Trudeau noted that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine poses some
“logistical distribution” challenges, including that it must be
stored at very cold temperatures and therefore getting it to
Canadians will be “more complex and slightly more limiting.”
“We are already working on those necessary logistical supports,”
he said.
Trudeau also said that testing of several other vaccine
candidates was “progressing well” and some of those could be rolled
out in early 2021 too.
Until then, he encouraged Canadians to continue to take
precautions to limit the spread of the Covid-19 illness, including
social distancing and wearing masks.
As of Monday, Canada has reported more than 260,000 Covid-19
infections, including 10,500 deaths.
“To be very clear: If you catch Covid in the coming days and
weeks, a vaccine won’t help you or your family,” Trudeau
concluded.
AFP
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