Courtesy: The Canadian Press

By Randi-Marie Adams

New vaccine announcement for Canada

Feb 27, 2021 | 2:36 PM

Prince George – PM Justin Trudeau announced that Health Canada has approved and authorized a third COVID-19 vaccine.

“Canada has now approved, yet another vaccine option. This morning Health Canada authorized the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine” -Prime Minister Trudeau

this announcement made last week, should leave Canadians hopefully, PM Trudeau saying this is encouraging news:

“It means more people vaccinated and sooner” According to officials, Canada will receive about 22 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which are set to arrive between April and September.

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” Here is the bottom line With Pfizer, Moderna, and now AstraZeneca, Canada will get to more than 6.5 million doses by the end of March. , and there will be tens of millions more doses to come between April and June.”

Great news for Canada, but some important notes to make here. According to the Health Canada website:

” The efficacy of the vaccine was estimated to be 62.1%. Overall, there are no important safety concerns and the vaccine was well tolerated by participants.”

Also noted: Compared to the other vaccines, the AstraZeneca shot is also easier to administer. The vaccine can be stored, transported, and handled at normal refrigerated conditions (2 to 8 C) for at least six months. Where Pfizer and Moderna need to be stored in low subzero temperatures which makes shipping and distribution tricky at times. A newly approved COVID vaccine will be easier to ship to more rural and remote areas like Northern BC.