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world news Diahuebs 10 December 2020

Canada health regulator approves Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine

(AP) — Canada’s health thorized in Canada. Follow- had other a history of severe
regulator on Wednesday ing U.K. and Bahrain, it is allergic reactions,” she said.
approved Pfizer’s COV- the third country to approve “At this point in time we are
ID-19 vaccine, days ahead use of our vaccine within a not changing our recom-
of possible approval in the week,” said Sean Marett, Bi- mendation.”
United States. oNTech’s chief business and Canada recently amended the
chief commercial officer. contract with Pfizer so that it
Health Canada posted on it is U.S. FDA scientists reana- would deliver up to 249,000
website that the vaccine made lyzed data and found the doses this month. That will
by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Pfizer vaccine appears safe mean about 124,500 of the
and Germany’s BioNTech and more than 90% effective highest risk Canadians will
is authorized. The vaccine across patients of different get vaccinated at first as two
already has been approved ages, races and underlying doses are required per person
by the United Kingdom and health conditions. a few weeks apart.
Bahrain and officials have Health Canada said the vac- Pfizer and BioNTech said it
said they expect U.S. approv- cine is for use in people 16 will supply a minimum of
al within days. years of age or older, but not- 20 million doses to Canada
“This a momentous occa- ed Pfizer-BioNTech are run- through 2021 and as many as
sion. I mean the geek in me ning further clinical trials on 76 million.
is amazed,” Dr. Supriya Shar- children of all age groups and Canada has contracts with
ma, chief medical advisor at that could change. six other vaccine makers is
Health Canada, said. “No providing information on the markable scientific achieve- Asked how Health Canada currently reviewing three
one would have thought, safety, efficacy and quality of ment that shaved years off beat the U.S. FDA, Sharma other vaccines including one
even when we looked back at the vaccine. the usual process. smiled and said. “We’re just by Moderna that Canadian
the first discovery of the vi- Canada is set to receive up The encouraging develop- better,” she joked. health officials said could be
rus, that less than a year later to 249,000 doses this month ments come as the coronavi- “We’re not in a race with any approved soon.
we would authorizing and and Canadian officials expect rus continues surging across other regulator.” The government has said 14
distributing a vaccine.” to administer them within much of the world. The Britain’s medical regulator distribution centers will be
Sharma called it an excep- days. scourge has claimed more warned Wednesday that peo- located in large Canadian cit-
tional day for Canada. Britain on Tuesday began vac- than 1.5 million lives, in- ple with a history of serious ies initially. There will be at
“Canadians can have confi- cinations with the shot made cluding over 285,000 in the allergic reactions shouldn’t least one in each province
dence in our rigorous review by Pfizer and BioNTech.U.S. U.S., the highest toll of any receive vaccine from Pfizer and two each in Canada’s
process, and that the vaccine regulators on Tuesday also country. U.S. Food and Drug and BioNTech. Sharma said four largest provinces.
was only authorized only af- released their first scientific Administration scientists are Health Canada is only advis- “This is phenomenal news
ter a thorough assessment of evaluation of Pfizer’s COV- meeting on Thursday, when ing people with allergies to for all Canadians as we take
the evidence demonstrated ID-19 vaccine and confirmed the agency’s independent the ingredients in the vaccine the next step toward ending
that it met Canada’s strict it offers strong protection. advisers will debate if the to avoid it but said they’ll re- this pandemic. As soon as
standards for safety, efficacy Vaccines are emerging from evidence is strong enough view info out of UK and de- vaccines arrive on Ontario
and quality,” she said. an all-out worldwide race to recommend vaccinating cision on whether to expand soil, we will be ready to de-
Health Canada said the terms and are reaching the market millions of Americans. “It is that advice. liver and administer them,”
of the approval require the less than a year after the virus encouraging to see that our “The people that had the al- Ontario Premier Doug Ford
manufacturer to continue was even identified — a re- mRNA vaccine is now au- lergic reaction in the U.K. said in a tweet.

Iran says US sanctions hinder access to COVID-19 vaccines

(AP) — Iran’s President difficult to transfer payments. navirus out of more than a
Hassan Rouhani said “Our people should know million confirmed cases —
Wednesday that U.S. sanc- that for any action we plan the worst outbreak in the
tions are making it diffi- to carry out for import- Middle East.
cult for Iran to purchase ing medicine, vaccines and Authorities have been re-
medicine and health sup- equipment, we should curse luctant to impose the kind
plies from abroad, in- Trump a hundred times,” of lockdown measures seen
cluding COVID-19 vac- Rouhani was quoted as say- elsewhere in the region,
cines needed to contain ing by the official IRNA partly because of concerns it
the worst outbreak in the news agency. would further exacerbate an
Middle East. He said even simple transac- already dire economic crisis.
tions to purchase medicine The sanctions have contrib-
President Donald Trump’s from other countries had be- uted to a plunge in the coun-
administration has imposed come extremely difficult and try’s currency in recent years
crippling sanctions on Iran’s that it can take “weeks” to that has caused the price of
banking sector and its vital oil transfer funds. basic goods to soar and wiped
and gas industry since unilat- Rouhani said authorities are out many Iranians’ life sav- is mainly symbolic, Henzel recruiting fighters for the
erally withdrawing the U.S. nevertheless doing what they ings. would be denied an Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary
from Iran’s nuclear deal with can to buy vaccines from visa, should he ever apply for Guard to foment instability
world powers in 2018. abroad, hoping to deliver In a separate development, one. He is also barred from in Yemen and in Syria.
While the United States in- them to high-risk individuals Iran’s foreign ministry on holding any accounts in Ira- Iran and the U.S. support op-
sists that medicines and hu- as soon as possible. Wednesday imposed sanc- nian banks and financial in- posite sides in Yemen’s con-
manitarian goods are exempt Last week, Iran said it is tions on the U.S. ambassa- stitutions and having finan- flict. In August, Iran imposed
from sanctions, restrictions working on its own vaccine, dor to Yemen, Christopher cial transactions with Iranian similar symbolic sanctions on
on trade have made many with testing on human pa- Henzel, because of his al- entities. Richard Goldberg, a hawk-
banks and companies across tients expected to begin next leged help “in organizing, On Tuesday, the Trump ish former expert with the
the world hesitant to do busi- month. It plans to buy 20 providing financial and arms administration said it im- White House National Se-
ness with Iran, fearing puni- million vaccine doses from support” to the Saudi-led co- posed sanctions on Iran’s curity Council. And in 2017,
tive measures from Washing- abroad, for a population of alition waging war in Yemen envoy to Yemen’s Houthi Iran sanctioned 15 American
ton. The country is also cut more than 80 million people. against the country’s Houthi rebels, Hasan Irlu, and the companies over their alleged
off from the international Iran has reported more than rebels. Iranian Al-Mustafa Interna- support for Israel, terrorism
banking system, making it 50,000 deaths from the coro- Under the measure, which tional University for alleged and repression in the region.