APPROVAL OF PFIZER COVID-19 PILLS COMING IN 7 - 10 DAYS: HEALTH CANADA.

By Chandrayee Roy Choudhury, Canada: Health Canada should be ready to make an authorization decision about Pfizer’s Paxlovid antiviral treatment for COVID-19 in a week to 10 days, chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma said Thursday.
But it’s still unclear when shipments will start or how much Canada will get at first as supply issues for the U.S.-made drug have made it incredibly hard to get even in the U.S., where it was authorized before Christmas.
The U.S. authorized it for use in patients at least 12 years old three weeks ago. The United Kingdom approved it Dec. 31.
Pfizer Canada spokeswoman Christina Antoniou said information on shipments to Canada won’t be available until Health Canada authorizes it. She did specifically confirm that supply issues prevented Pfizer from making earlier shipments under the Urgent Public Health Need regulations.
Kevin Smith, the CEO of the University Health Network in Toronto, went public with demands for Paxlovid’s approval in early January, calling them an “essential addition” to hospitals’ needs.