Health Canada has approved a second COVID-19 vaccine for use in the country.
The agency gave the green light for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday.
It comes two weeks to the day after the federal health agency approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
“Today’s authorization is a critical step in ensuring additional COVID-19 vaccines are available to all Canadians in all parts of the country,” the agency said in a statement.
“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.”
A high-level summary of evidence reviewed by Health Canada said Moderna’s vaccine efficacy was evaluated to be 94.1 per cent.
“There were no important safety issues identified and no life-threatening adverse events or deaths related to the vaccine,” the agency said in its overview.
Health Canada said the most frequently reported adverse reactions after any dose were pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, myalgia and chills. Most were mild to moderate in severity and resolved within two to three days.
Adverse reactions were more common in younger adults as compared to older adults and most were reported following the second dose of the vaccine.
Last week, Ottawa announced it had reached an agreement with Moderna for up to 168,000 doses by the end of December. It is part of the guaranteed 40 million doses the government has secured from the company.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the vaccine can be distributed 48 hours after it receives Health Canada approval.
