Canada has signed separate deals with Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc to supply millions of doses of their experimental coronavirus vaccines, a top official said on Wednesday.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand also told a news conference that Ottawa was negotiating with other potential domestic and international vaccine suppliers but did not give details.
There are no approved vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, but 19 vaccines are being tested in humans around the world.
Moderna will provide its mRNA-1273 vaccine candidate, she said. Pfizer - which is working with German biotech firm BioNTech SE- said separately it planned deliveries of the BNT162 mRNA-based vaccine candidate over the course of 2021.
All potential vaccines will require Health Canada regulatory approval, Anand said, adding that her ministry was procuring the equipment supplies needed to perform the final manufacturing and packaging stages of vaccine production in Canada.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Bernadette Baum) ((david.ljunggren@thomsonreuters.com; +1 613 235 6745; fax +1 613 235 5890; Reuters Messaging: david.ljunggren.reuters.com@reuters.net))
