News of another promising COVID-19 candidate emerged today as Canada inched closer to the 300,000-case count, with the two hardest-hit provinces continuing to report more than 1,000 daily new infections.
Moderna's announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine appears to be 94.5 per cent effective, according to preliminary data, comes a week after a similar announcement from Pfizer.
We just announced that mRNA-1273, our COVID-19 vaccine candidate, has met its primary efficacy endpoint in the first interim analysis of the Phase 3 COVE study.
— Moderna (@moderna_tx) November 16, 2020
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Both American companies are among those that have signed agreements with Canada, and have asked Health Canada to review their products.
Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he hoped a vaccine would roll out early next year, but warned a shot won't provide an immediate solution to the second wave currently spurring a surge in cases across the country.
Ontario and Quebec, the two provinces that account for the bulk of Canada's COVID-19 case count, reported 1,487 and 1,218 new infections, respectively, today as well as 10 and 25 more deaths.
Over the weekend, Alberta saw a daily increase of more than 1,000 cases, though that dropped back to 991 on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Green party Leader Annamie Paul says the federal government needs a national task force of scientists to create a co-ordinated response to COVID-19 across the country, saying the current approach is leading to mixed messages.
