TORONTO -- While Canadian doctors are welcoming the news of Health Canada鈥檚 approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, they鈥檙e also cautioning there is still more work to be done before life can return to some semblance of normal.
Infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch described the health agency鈥檚 decision as an 鈥渉istoric moment鈥 for the country.
鈥淚t is OK to stop along the path and pause for a minute and take a moment to acknowledge that this is an incredible moment in time and just to really acknowledge the people who have put in so much effort to create and produce and study these vaccines,鈥 he told 麻豆影视 Channel on Wednesday.
The vaccine developed by the American firm Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech is the first candidate to receive the green light for distribution in Canada. The approval by Health Canada comes just a day after the U.K. began inoculating its eldest citizens with the same vaccine 鈥 the first Western country to do so.
U.S. and European Union regulators are expected to follow suit and approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in the coming days or weeks as well.
Bogoch said the scientific community has come a long way since they first learned of the novel coronavirus in late 2019, and he鈥檚 looking forward to seeing the safe distribution of these vaccines in the coming months.
鈥淭o watch how these vaccines are rolled out in a meaningful, equitable, data-driven manner to really help us get this under control here in Canada,鈥 he said.
Dr. Jelena Vojicic, Pfizer Canada鈥檚 vaccines medical lead, told CTV National News Medical Correspondent Avis Favaro that she鈥檚 proud to have been involved in the development of the vaccine.
鈥淚t is months of work at risk, right? And when you see something as encouraging as the data that came through, you know, one cannot help but tear up鈥t does get emotional,鈥 she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really a historic moment for the science. This might change the way we do clinical trials and vaccine trials. New technologies are enabling us to do things differently so this is really unprecedented.鈥
麻豆影视鈥 infectious disease specialist Dr. Abdu Sharkawy agreed the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was a 鈥渕onumental, exciting landmark moment in our response to the pandemic.鈥 He said many in the medical profession were 鈥減leasantly surprised鈥 by the announcement on Wednesday.
鈥淚 have confidence that Health Canada has done this with their due diligence in mind and I think it's up to us to make sure that the rollout strategy is executed appropriately,鈥 he told 麻豆影视 Channel on Wednesday.
鈥楾HE VACCINE IS NOT GOING TO BE A SILVER BULLET鈥
Sharkawy also stressed that this is only the beginning of a 鈥渧ery long journey鈥 to bringing the virus under control and that Canadians will have to continue to adhere to public health measures for a while longer.
Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti, an infectious disease specialist, echoed that sentiment and asked Canadians to be patient during the vaccine rollout.
鈥淭he virus is still with us,鈥 he said. 鈥淵es, we鈥檒l start to relax at some point in 2021, but we still have to remember to keep our contacts low, physical distancing, mask wearing, and hand washing. We have to do that for the next little bit.
"The vaccine is not going to be a silver bullet.鈥
Dr. Joe Vipond, an emergency room physician at Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary, said the approval of a vaccine in Canada is a 鈥渓ight at the end of the tunnel,鈥 but the country still has a lot of 鈥渄ark paths鈥 to travel through first before it can reach it. He said the vaccine distribution will be a key component.
鈥淚t鈥檚 only to come out in dribs and drabs and so we鈥檙e going to have to be very targeted in who is getting it first,鈥 he told 麻豆影视 Channel on Wednesday.
Vipond also said they will have to combat 鈥渧accine hesitancy鈥 and misinformation about the shots in order to ensure people get vaccinated.
鈥淧eople need to understand that science works,鈥 he said. 鈥淰accines have saved more lives than any other single health intervention in the history of mankind and I suspect this will be no different.鈥
Chakrabarti said that authorities will have to provide complete transparency about the vaccines to reassure the population and fight misinformation. He cited the example of two individuals in the U.K. who had an allergic reaction after they received the vaccine.
鈥淭hese adverse events can happen. It鈥檚 important to analyze why it happened, if it happened in individuals, and if it was because of the vaccine,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be looking at these [cases] very, very closely鈥 but that doesn鈥檛 mean that we can鈥檛 give the vaccine, we just have to realize why it happened and be careful with it.鈥
Sharkawy said he expects they will hear of more cases of individuals who don鈥檛 tolerate one vaccine over another, which is why he said it鈥檚 a good thing Canada has contracts to procure multiple vaccine candidates.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to need all of these vaccines ideally, so that we find a niche for different patient populations across Canada and hopefully accelerate the timeline towards herd immunity,鈥 he said.
The first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are expected to arrive in Canada early next week. The plan is for them to be administered at 14 delivery sites in major cities across the country soon after their arrival.
With files from CTVNews.ca鈥檚 Rachel Aiello
