Ottawa:
Canada on Friday authorized a fourth Covid-19 vaccine, adding Johnson & Johnson to its authorized list alongside AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots.
It is the very first single-dose Covid-19 vaccine to be authorized in the nation, and has been cleared for use by men and women more than 18 years of age.
Ottawa has ordered up to 38 million doses, which can be stored at refrigerated temperatures from two to eight degrees Celsius (35-46 Fahrenheit), creating distribution much easier than some other folks.
“We concluded that there was strong evidence that showed that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh the potential risk,” Health Canada chief health-related officer Supriya Sharma told a news conference, adding that its evaluation will continue as it is rolled out.
All of the vaccines authorized for use in Canada so far “are effective against severe cases and hospitalization,” she added.
In total, Ottawa has ordered or reserved more than 400 million doses of vaccine from seven suppliers for a population of 38 million.
Health officials are anticipated to announce in the coming weeks a choice on Novovax’s vaccine candidate — the only other one to have submitted an application for approval to date.
As of Friday, Canada has reported more than 878,000 circumstances of the coronavirus and more than 22,000 fatalities.
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