Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ottawa has signed a tentative agreement with a US-based company to produce COVID-19 vaccines in Canada.
The memorandum of understanding was reached with Maryland-based Novavax, and could see millions of doses produced from a new facility at the National Research Council of Canada in Montreal.
The company is still undertaking clinical trials of the vaccine, which boasts an 89.3 per cent efficacy rate versus COVID-19. In comparison, Pfizer reported a 95 per cent efficacy rate with its vaccine after receiving two doses.
It may still be another few months before Health Canada gives Novavax the green light. Once construction wraps up on the new facility and it receives certification, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says production could commence by year’s end.