Health Canada announced Friday it has authorized AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccines for use.
The authorization of the AstraZeneca vaccine developed with Oxford University and the Serum Institute of India’s version of the AstraZeneca vaccine introduce the first viral vector-based Covid-19 vaccines, and the third and fourth authorized Covid-19 vaccines in Canada.
The Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines are already authorized for use in Canada.
Health Canada received an application for authorization from AstraZeneca on Oct. 1 and Serum Institute of India on Jan. 23. The authorization of the Serum Institute of India’s vaccine depended on the clinical trial results’ comparability to that of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Supriya Sharma, Health Canada’s chief medical adviser, said at a news conference Friday.
Health Canada, which has been reviewing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine since Nov. 30, is expecting additional information from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, specifically on manufacturing, later today, she said.
“[An authorization of the J&J vaccine] can go quite quickly if that information is all in order,” Sharma responded when asked if an authorization from Health Canada will promptly follow the US Food and Drug Administration’s anticipated emergency use authorization.
The Novavax Covid-19 vaccine, which was submitted for review on Jan. 29, is currently undergoing a Phase 3 clinical trial, Sharma said. Health Canada expects the results from the trial at the beginning of April.
“We are expecting to reach a regulatory decision on these vaccines on a similar timeline to other international regulators, such as the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency,” Sharma said. “This is all very promising news.”