Canada becomes the 3rd country to approve Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine

Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine has just earned approval in another country.

The COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech on Wednesday received authorization in Canada, with regulator Health Canada announcing it finished reviewing the necessary safety and efficacy data, The New York Times reports.

"After a thorough, independent review of the evidence, Health Canada has determined that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine meets the Department's stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements for use in Canada," Health Canada said. "...Canadians can feel confident that the review process was rigorous and that we have strong monitoring systems in place."

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Canada was the third country to approve the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer, which was previously authorized in the United Kingdom and Bahrain, The Wall Street Journal notes. Canada will receive "up to 249,000 doses this month," according to The Associated Press. In the United States, Pfizer has applied for emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The vaccine could potentially be approved in the U.S. not long after a key FDA meeting on Thursday, Bloomberg reports.

News of Canada's approval of the Pfizer vaccine comes after regulators in the U.K., where vaccinations began this week, advised that people who have a "significant history of allergic reactions" shouldn't receive the vaccine for now while they investigate two adverse responses.