Health Canada approves Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

Health Canada has approved to use of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, and the first doses are set to arrive in Canada by Christmas.

The Moderna vaccine is the second coronavirus vaccine that's been approved by Canada, the other is the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine which was approved earlier this month.

Canada is expected to receive up to 168,000 doses by the end of the month, and around 2 million by the end of March, CP 24 Reports

While the vaccine has been approved, it is not recommended for children. The vaccine has yet to be tested on children under 12.

"Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada will closely monitor the safety of the vaccine once it is on the market and will not hesitate to take action if any safety concerns are identified," the Agency said in a statement.

The Moderna vaccine is set to be a game changer, as it doesn't have the complex storage requirements of the Pfizer vaccine.

"The different storage and handling requirements of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine mean that it can be distributed to isolated and remote communities, including the territories," said Health Canada.

While vaccines are being administered in Canada, other countries like the United States, France, and the United Kingdom have access to more doses and are vaccinating at a faster rate.

This is because the Canadian government did not set up vaccine manufacturing ahead of the vaccine rollout. When asked about Canada's inability to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines this earlier this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blamed Stephen Harper.