Canada gets first batch of Indian COVID-19 vaccines
The first Canada-bound shipment of Covid-19 vaccines manufactured in India arrived in Toronto on the morning of 3rd March Canada time. The consignment of 500 thousand doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the brand Covishield was sent by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India. It was received by its Canadian partner, Verity Pharmaceuticals, located in the Greater Toronto Area town of Mississauga. The delivery of the first tranche of a total of two million doses scheduled by mid-May was announced by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. During a media interaction, Trudeau said, “Very early this morning, our first half a million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine from the Serum Institute arrived in Canada. Already, the national operations center has worked with provinces and territories to coordinate shipments of these vaccines across the country. Our priority is to get doses into arms as soon as possible.”. Trudeau had called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February with a request for vaccines and the Indian PM had then took to Twitter to say that he “was happy to receive a call from my friend, @JustinTrudeau”. The shipment has an expiry date of about a month from now and Canadian public health authorities are accelerating the process of getting the doses distributed and administered across the country. Health Canada gave authorization to the SII manufactured vaccine product last week. Canada is the first Western nation and the only G7 country to receive vaccines from India under the government`s Vaccine Maitri initiative. The AstraZeneca vaccine is the third shot to have been cleared by Canada after those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Canada will receive a total of 22 million doses of the AstraZeneca inoculation, which includes the consignment from India.
The first Canada-bound shipment of Covid-19 vaccines manufactured in India arrived in Toronto on the morning of 3rd March Canada time. The consignment of 500 thousand doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the brand Covishield was sent by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India. It was received by its Canadian partner, Verity Pharmaceuticals, located in the Greater Toronto Area town of Mississauga. The delivery of the first tranche of a total of two million doses scheduled by mid-May was announced by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. During a media interaction, Trudeau said, “Very early this morning, our first half a million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine from the Serum Institute arrived in Canada. Already, the national operations center has worked with provinces and territories to coordinate shipments of these vaccines across the country. Our priority is to get doses into arms as soon as possible.”. Trudeau had called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February with a request for vaccines and the Indian PM had then took to Twitter to say that he “was happy to receive a call from my friend, @JustinTrudeau”. The shipment has an expiry date of about a month from now and Canadian public health authorities are accelerating the process of getting the doses distributed and administered across the country. Health Canada gave authorization to the SII manufactured vaccine product last week. Canada is the first Western nation and the only G7 country to receive vaccines from India under the government`s Vaccine Maitri initiative. The AstraZeneca vaccine is the third shot to have been cleared by Canada after those made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Canada will receive a total of 22 million doses of the AstraZeneca inoculation, which includes the consignment from India.
