  In Costa Rica, authorities expect to receive the vaccine gradually in the first quarter of 2021. - A.M. Costa Rica illustrative photo - |
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 Published Wednesday, December 9, 2020 Canada
will receive the covid-19
vaccine this month By the A.M. Costa Rica staff and wire services The government of Canada is delivering on its commitment to ensuring that Canadians have access to safe and effective covid-19 vaccines this month. Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement announced that following successful negotiations, Canada will receive up to 249,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine contingent on Health Canada authorization of the vaccine. These dosages are part of the up to 76 million doses Canada has secured through its existing agreement with Pfizer. As with all covid-19 vaccine candidates, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine must be authorized by Health Canada before being administered to Canadians. Pfizer, the Public Health Agency of Canada with the Canadian Armed Forces, and the Provinces and Territories are working together to finalize preparations at the first point-of-use sites this week, including training on how to handle the product, which must be transported and stored at -70 degrees Celsius, the Public Services and Procurement Canada said in its statement. Important logistical tests are planned, beginning with a dry run with Pfizer this week, led by the National Operations Center. This dry run will be used to confirm the ordering, shipping and importation processes from the point of manufacture to the point of use across Canada. In this initial dry run with Pfizer, a shipping container with dry ice and a data-logger will simulate a shipment of the vaccine. The government of Canada expects to conduct other rehearsals to confirm ordering and shipping processes for additional vaccines as they become available. These test activities are important to ensure that the Provinces and Territories have the necessary infrastructure and equipment in place and are able to plan to effectively and efficiently administer covid-19 vaccines as they roll-out. “We continue to prepare for distribution with provinces and territories, as experts and scientists of the government of Canada are assessing the safety of covid-19 vaccine candidates," Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health said. "Canadians can be confident that when a vaccine is ready, Canada will be ready.” Pfizer submitted an application for regulatory review of its covid-19 vaccine candidate under Health Canada’s interim order on Oct. 9. "Results of this review are expected soon", authorities said. This is the second country announcing the beginning of the vaccination campaign against covid-19 this week.  On Tuesday, the U.K. vaccinated its first citizen against the covid-19 virus. Ninety-year-old nursing home resident Margaret Keenan received the first of two doses of a vaccine jointly developed by the U.S.-based pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. The vaccination campaign, dubbed “V-Day” by Health Secretary Mark Hancock, began nearly a week after the government’s medical regulatory agency granted emergency approval for the vaccine, making Britain the first western nation ready to begin mass inoculations. The approval came weeks after Pfizer announced the vaccine had been shown to be more than 90% effective after its final clinical trial. According to the Voice of American Journal report, Keenan, who will turn 91 next week, is among the thousands of nursing home residents and their caregivers, along with staffers with Britain’s National Health Service, that have been prioritized by officials to receive the first shots. While in Costa Rica, the National Emergency Commission announced on Nov. 24, that it has already begun to buy the necessary supplies for an expected vaccination campaign against covid-19 in 2021. Among the most important items are 14 ultra-low temperature freezers to store the vaccines scheduled to arrive before March 2021. Of those, 13 freezers can hold 550 liters alongside another with a capacity of 750 liters to store the vaccine for a longer time. The purchases are financed with emergency funds, following the Presidential Decree of National Health Emergency due to the pandemic. In November, the government signed an agreement with the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to buy one million doses of its vaccine, AZD1222, which is being developed together with the University of Oxford in England. According to the government, each dose will be priced at $4, so the estimated price of this purchase is at least $4 million, without including additional distribution costs. Vaccine purchases would be made with funds from the National Emergency Fund that is being used to face the crisis caused by the pandemic. The vaccine would be administered in two sessions, meaning that one million doses would cover half a million people. It is estimated that the vaccine will be made available in the first quarter of 2021, as long as the ongoing clinical trials are successful and it is approved by international regulatory organizations. In October, authorities at the Ministry of Health announced an agreement with Pfizer and BioNTech for the purchase of 3 million doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine. The cost of the purchases has not been disclosed due to a commercial confidentiality agreement required by the companies, the government said. The National Emergency Fund is paying for the vaccines and expects to receive the treatment gradually in the first quarter of 2021. -------------------- When is the vaccination campaign against covid-19 programmed to begin in your country? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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