Coronavirus: Canada green lights Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

• Vaccine has undergone fast-tracked review and is still in clinical trials, says Health Canada
• PM Trudeau says that as many as 249,000 doses would be received in December
• Health care workers, vulnerable populations are to be the first to receive it

After the United Kingdom became the first country in the world to greenlight and roll out the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, Canada said Wednesday that it had also approved it.

"Today, Canada reached a critical milestone in its fight against COVID-19 with the authorization of the first COVID-19 vaccine," Health Canada said in a statement.

The vaccine, it said, had undergone a fast-tracked review while it was still in clinical trials, which concluded that it met "stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements for use in Canada."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that as many as 249,000 doses would be received in December, with the first shipments to 14 sites across Canada arriving as early as next week and people receiving shots a day or two later.

Health care workers and vulnerable populations including the elderly are to be the first to receive it.

By September 2021, Trudeau said, most Canadians should be inoculated.

Thousands of Britons became the first in the Western world to receive the vaccine on Tuesday at the start of the biggest global vaccination drive in more than half a century.

The vaccine — which proved to be 95% effective in late-stage clinical trials — is administered in two doses, 21 days apart.

British health officials, however, warned on Wednesday that anyone with a history of significant allergic reactions should not get it right away, after two people suffered allergic reactions and needed treatment.

US giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech called Canada´s interim order for its emergency use "a historic moment in our collective fight against the COVID-19 pandemic" and "a major step towards returning to normalcy in Canada."

They will continue providing data on its use for ongoing evaluation, according to Canada´s health department.

The federal government, meanwhile, has concluded pre-orders with several pharmaceutical companies — including AstraZeneca, Pfizer and BioNTech, Sanofi and GSK, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson, Medicago and Moderna — for 400 million doses, to ensure it eventually gets what it needs for its population of 38 million.