Trudeau: COVID-19 Vaccinations Will Start Next Week, If Health Canada Approves

Pending Health Canada approval, “Canadians will be getting vaccinated starting next week,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a press conference on Monday (Dec. 7).

Trudeau said that Canada has secured an agreement to receive its first batch of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine this month, a delivery that amounts to up to 249,000 doses.

“We’re facing the largest immunization in the history of our country,” Trudeau told reporters. “This is no small task, which is why we have a clear plan. Our government, through the national operations centre, has been working with the provinces and territories to ensure we’re ready to roll out vaccine doses as soon as they’re approved and delivered.”

Pfizer’s vaccine requires two doses and Canada has purchased at least 20 million from the U.S.-based pharmaceutical company.

The first four million are scheduled to arrive in the first three months of 2021, Trudeau said. 

Pfizer’s clinical trials of the vaccine show that it is 95 per cent effective, has no serious side effects and protects older individuals.

“Our goal is to have a safe vaccine that we can deliver to Canadians as soon as possible,” Trudeau said, speaking in French.

Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand said Canada took “an unrelenting approach to procurement” of the vaccines.

“We will not rest until we climb this mountain,” she told reporters.

Word of a COVID-19 vaccine is good news for the travel industry as it may encourage more people to start travelling again. 

According to a recent study conducted by Development Counsellors International (DCI), Canadians are eager to travel in a post-pandemic world, but will do so under certain conditions.

In a 30-question online survey DCI conducted involving 1,512 Canadians from all provinces, 65% said they will not travel internationally until a vaccine has been developed for COVID-19.

Additionally, 70% of respondents said they’ll only travel to a destination that is confirmed to be free of COVID-19 cases.

(Source: PAX News)