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Health Canada has approved Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine for use in this country, clearing the way for thousands of doses to arrive by month's end.

The federal department announced the approval on Wednesday after completing a review of the Massachusetts-based biotechnology company's clinical trial data.

"The data provided supports favourably the efficacy of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine as well as its safety," Health Canada said in a notice authorizing use of the vaccine for people over the age of 18.

"There were no important safety issues identified and no life-threatening adverse events (AEs) or deaths related to the vaccine."

WATCH | Health Canada approves Moderna COVID-19 vaccine:

Health Canada approves Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

CBC News

5 hours agoVideo

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Health Canada has approved Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, clearing the way for thousands of doses to arrive by year's end. Dr. Noah Ivers of Women's College Hospital in Toronto says the two approved vaccines use similar technologies but have different handling requirements. 5:40

Moderna's is the second COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by Health Canada.

The department authorized a vaccine made by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German biotechnology firm BioNTech on Dec. 9, and it's already being administered in parts of the country to people in high-priority groups, including health-care workers and long-term care workers and residents.

The Moderna approval means vaccinations can now begin in northern, remote and Indigenous communities, which haven't seen any doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine because they lack the freezer equipment necessary to safely store it at –70 C. Moderna's vaccine, by contrast, can be stored at regular freezer temperatures.

Also on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government is committing another $70 million to the Canadian Red Cross as it faces growing demand for help from long-term care facilities in Ontario and Quebec that have been overwhelmed by the pandemic.

Trudeau also announced Canada was extending a ban on flights from Britain for another two weeks until Jan. 6 as the United Kingdom struggles with a new strain of COVID-19 that experts suggest is more contagious than other variants.

What's happening in Canada

As of 3:45 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Canada's COVID-19 case count stood at 526,534, with 76,156 of those cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 14,559.

In Alberta, Calgary has now issued 47 tickets under the Public Health Act since its second state of local emergency due to COVID-19 was declared on Nov. 25, the city said in an enforcement update on Wednesday.

Saskatchewan announced 159 new COVID-19 infections and five new deaths on Wednesday.

Manitoba health officials reported 155 new COVID-19 cases and 18 more deaths. The number of new cases continues to trend downward following restrictions that were imposed last month on public gatherings and business openings. Health officials say intensive care units, however, are still running well above their normal capacity.

Ontario on Wednesday registered 2,408 new cases, its second-highest single-day tally, and 41 new deaths. There were 1,002 people hospitalized due to COVID-19, including a record 275 in intensive care. The entire province will be moving into lockdown after midnight on Dec. 26.

Paramedics take away an elderly patient at the Tendercare Living Centre in Toronto amid an outbreak at the long-term care home. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

Hard-hit Quebec on Wednesday recorded 2,247 new cases of COVID-19, another daily high. Hospitalizations stood at 1,067, with 142 patients in Quebec's intensive care units, according to provincial data.

New Brunswick saw five new cases. Meanwhile, vaccinations for health-care workers began in Moncton.

Newfoundland and Labrador added one new case.

Nova Scotia registered four additional infections.

WATCH | N.S. business supports charities through mask sales:

N.S. business supports charities through mask sales

CBC News Nova Scotia

9 hours agoVideo

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Sherrie Kearney of Maritime Tartan has made more than 18,000 masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, and donated thousands to charity. Their latest fundraiser includes a tie signed by Dr. Robert Strang, who just gave them a big shout-out. 4:30

Prince Edward Island announced it is making a new mental health and addictions resource available to Islanders online. Demand for access to mental health services has been a pressing topic on P.E.I. throughout the pandemic, with the number of Islanders consulting mental health professionals doubling, the closure of the psychiatric unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and challenges faced by those struggling with addictions. 

In response to its approval, Yukon officials said Wednesday the territory will start receiving Moderna vaccine shipments beginning the first week of January.

The Northwest Territories reported no new cases.

What's happening around the world

As of early Wednesday, more than 78.2 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with more than 44.1 million of those cases considered recovered or resolved, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracking tool. The global death toll stood at more than 1.7 million.

In Europe, British Health Secretary Matt Hancock says scientists have identified another new variant of the coronavirus in two people, both of whom are contacts of recent arrivals from South Africa.

Hancock said the evidence gathered so far suggests that the new variant has "mutated further" than the one that recently prompted the British government to tighten restrictions across large parts of England and led to many countries imposing travel bans on the U.K. Hancock also announced new travel restrictions on South Africa.

The health secretary also announced that more areas in England would be placed into the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions in a bid to curb the spread of a more transmissible variant of COVID-19. Hancock said beginning Dec. 26, large regions across southern England would join London and neighbouring areas in Tier 4 with restrictions similar to that of a lockdown.

WATCH | Pfizer and Moderna vaccines can be modified to tackle variants, says expert:

Pfizer, Moderna vaccines can be modified to tackle variants: expert

Health

2 hours agoVideo

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According to infectious disease specialist Dr. Zain Chagla, vaccines that use mRNA technology can be reverse engineered quite quickly to take on variants — such as the recent U.K. variant of the coronavirus. 1:42

In Asia, South Korea has added 1,092 new coronavirus cases in a resurgence that is erasing hard-won epidemiological gains and eroding public confidence in the government's ability to handle the outbreak.

The national caseload has jumped by a quarter in the last two weeks alone, the death toll is rising and the number of sick patients is raising concerns of a shortage in intensive care beds.

South Korea had been seen as a success story against COVID-19 after health workers managed to contain a major outbreak in its southeastern region in the spring. But critics say the country gambled on its own success by easing physical-distancing restrictions to help the economy.

Visitors look at a playground, which is taped off as a precaution against the coronavirus, at a park in Seoul on Wednesday. (Lee Jin-man/The Associated Press)

In Africa, Egypt reported its highest daily confirmed cases in months, with more than 911 confirmed cases and 42 fatalities, as authorities said New Year's Eve celebrations would be cancelled.

Health Minister Hala Zayed announced the numbers at a news conference in Cairo on Wednesday, which brought the county's official tally to more than 127,970 COVID-19 cases, including at least 7,209 deaths.

Kenya's parliament voted to end tax cuts put in place in April to cushion the economy from the impact of the pandemic.

In the Americas, Peru has passed one million confirmed cases of coronavirus infection. It is the fifth nation in Latin America to report that number as the region struggles with the pandemic's economic and health effects.

Peru's government was quick to declare lockdown measures for its 32 million people last March as the pandemic spread in Europe. But in spite of closing its airports for almost six months and ordering most of its residents to stay at home, it has struggled to contain the virus. Officials said they had recorded 1,000,153 cases as of Tuesday evening.

More than 37,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Peru. That gives the Andean nation the world's second-highest per-capita death toll from the pandemic, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.