Up to 249,000 doses are expected to arrive before the end of December
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says up to 249,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine will arrive on Canadian soil before the end of the month.
Trudeau says he expects the first doses will be delivered next week with Health Canada set to approve the vaccine for use in Canada any day now.
Canada is also set to receive four million doses of the Pfizer vaccine by March, beginning this month, which is enough to inoculate two million people with two doses each.
The federal government has purchased 20-million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and has the option to buy 56 million more.
The pharmaceutical company says it is planning to ship the doses directly to provinces because it needs to be stored at ultra-cold temperatures, below -70C.
As AM800 News reported last week, Windsor Regional Hospital purchased three, -80 degree Celsius freezers for the Pfizer vaccine and four, -25 degree Celsius freezers for the Moderna vaccine.
Health Canada is also reviewing three other vaccine candidates, including one from Moderna, which is set to deliver two million doses to Canada in the first quarter of 2021.
— With files from The Canadian Press