AZN Astrazeneca Plc

   By Paul Vieira 
 

OTTAWA--Canada said Friday it secured a deal with the Serum Institute of India to acquire two million doses of the organization's version of the Covid-19 vaccine produced by AstraZeneca PLC in partnership with Oxford University.

News of the deal emerged hours after Canada authorized use of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, as well as the version produced by the Serum Institute, which is the world's largest maker of vaccines. Canada said on Feb. 12 it was in talks with the Serum Institute, which makes more than a billion doses a year for everything from polio to measles, mostly for export to emerging markets.

Canada said in a statement the first 500,000 doses from the Serum Institute will be delivered to Canada in the coming weeks for distribution to the provinces and territories, which are in charge of the inoculation process. The remaining 1.5 million doses will arrive by mid-May.

The Canadian government has agreed to purchase 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine. AstraZeneca said in a statement it is working with Canadian officials to deliver doses as quickly as possible.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 26, 2021 12:45 ET (17:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.