Ottawa: The first batch of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been delivered to Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
“The first batch of doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine have arrived in Canada,” Trudeau said on Twitter on Sunday.
On Thursday, Canada’s prime minister said that the first 30,000 doses of the vaccine were expected in a matter of days.
Earlier in the week, health regulators granted emergency authorization to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
According to Trudeau, the federal government is covering the cost of the vaccine.
Canada is expected to receive up to 249,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine before the end of December, which will allow up to 124,500 Canadians to be vaccinated before the end of the year.
Public health officials say the plan is to vaccinate 40 to 50 percent of Canadians by next summer and complete the COVID-19 immunization program by September 30, 2021.