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After Britain became the first country to vaccinate its public,... many countries around the world are also stepping up their immunization programs with Canada becoming the latest.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration could also approve vaccines for Americans within days.
Kim Hyo-sun reports.
Canada has become the third country in the world to approve the use of Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines,... following the UK and Bahrain.
In a statement issued by its health authorities on Wednesday,... the vaccine was described as "safe, effective and of good quality."
The authorities added that a limited rollout will begin for priority groups within days,... and vaccination of the general population is anticipated to start in April.
This comes as the Canadian Prime Minister explained earlier this week that the country has secured an agreement with Pfizer to receive up to 249-thousand of its initial doses in December,... and that millions of doses are set to arrive in 2021.
Against this backdrop, Washington also hinted that its approval could come very soon.
The U.S. health secretary explained Wednesday that the FDA could authorize the Pfizer vaccines in a matter of days,... reaffirming that some 20 million Americans will receive the shots before the end of the year.
Explaining that medical staff and care residents will be the first to receive the shots,... he added that by February or March next year, the general public will begin their inoculation.
Meanwhile, the UAE, the first foreign country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm,... said it had 86 percent efficacy,... according to the interim results of a Phase three trial.
The country added that its capital city has launched a volunteer program for Phase three trials of the Russian-developed vaccine, known as Sputnik V.
Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.