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Health Canada Approves Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine

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Health Canada has approved a second COVID-19 vaccine for use in the country.

The agency gave the green light for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday.

It comes two weeks to the day after the federal health agency approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

“Today’s authorization is a critical step in ensuring additional COVID-19 vaccines are available to all Canadians in all parts of the country,” the agency said in a statement.

“The different storage and handling requirements of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine mean that it can be distributed to isolated and remote communities, including the territories.”

A high-level summary of evidence reviewed by Health Canada said Moderna’s vaccine efficacy was evaluated to be 94.1 per cent.

“There were no important safety issues identified and no life-threatening adverse events or deaths related to the vaccine,” the agency said in its overview.

Health Canada said the most frequently reported adverse reactions after any dose were pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, myalgia and chills. Most were mild to moderate in severity and resolved within two to three days.

Adverse reactions were more common in younger adults as compared to older adults and most were reported following the second dose of the vaccine.

Last week, Ottawa announced it had reached an agreement with Moderna for up to 168,000 doses by the end of December. It is part of the guaranteed 40 million doses the government has secured from the company.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the vaccine can be distributed 48 hours after it receives Health Canada approval.

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Early Data Suggests Moderna COVID Vaccine Is 94.5% Effective

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A second COVID-19 vaccine candidate is showing promising results south of the border.

Moderna said Monday that preliminary data from its ongoing study suggests the company’s vaccine is 94.5 per cent effective.

Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel described the news as a “pivotal moment” in the development of their vaccine candidate.

“Since early January, we have chased this virus with the intent to protect as many people around the world as possible,” said Bancel in a news release. “This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent COVID-19 disease, including severe disease,”

The news comes a week after Pfizer announced its vaccine candidate is more than 90 per cent effective in preventing the virus.

A review of the adverse side effects found they were generally “mild or moderate in severity” and short-lived. They included injection site pain, fatigue, myalgia, arthralgia, headache and pain.

Moderna will apply for FDA Emergency Use Authorization in the United States in the coming weeks and plans to submit authorization applications to global regulatory agencies.

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Ottawa Looks To Secure Potential COVID-19 Vaccines

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The federal government has signed agreements with two companies to secure millions of doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines.

Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand announced Wednesday that Ottawa has entered into agreements with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and biotech company Moderna.

Anand said this puts Canada among the first countries in the world to establish these agreements.

“These agreements are indicative of our aggressive approach to secure access to vaccine candidates now so that Canadians are at the front of the line when a vaccine becomes available,” said Anand.

All potential vaccines would require Health Canada regulatory approval before they could be used to vaccinate Canadians.

Anand said Pfizer is evaluating at least four experimental vaccine candidates and is currently undergoing clinical trials.

“These trials are occurring in various countries including Germany and the United States and are already exhibiting promising results,” said Anand.

The New England Journal of Medicine recently published “encouraging” data from Moderna’s trials relating to its vaccine candidate, she said.

But despite the promising results of the vaccine candidates so far, Anand said there is more work to do before one is developed.

“Any potential vaccine candidate will take time to develop, properly test, mass manufacture and distribute,” she said.

The federal government said it cannot disclose contract details at this time as active negotiations are taking place with other potential vaccine suppliers.

In the meantime, Anand said the government is also working to procure syringes, needles and alcohol swabs for when a vaccine is developed.