TORONTO (AP) Canadas health regulator on Wednesday approved Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine, days ahead of possible approval in the United States.

Health Canada posted on its website that the vaccine made by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and Germanys BioNTech is authorized. The vaccine already has been approved by the United Kingdom and Bahrain and officials have said they expect U.S. approval within days.

This a momentous occasion. I mean the geek in me is amazed, Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical advisor at Health Canada, said. No one would have thought, even when we looked back at the first discovery of the virus, that less than a year later we would authorizing and distributing a vaccine.

Sharma called it an exceptional day for Canada.

Canadians can have confidence in our rigorous review process, and that the vaccine was only authorized only after a thorough assessment of the evidence demonstrated that it met Canadas strict standards for safety, efficacy, and quality, she said.

Health Canada said the terms of the approval require the manufacturer to continue providing information on the safety, efficacy, and quality of the vaccine.

Canada is set to receive up to 249,000 doses this month and Canadian officials expect to administer them within days.

Britain on Tuesday began vaccinations with the shot made by Pfizer and BioNTech.

U.S. regulators on Tuesday also released their first scientific evaluation of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine and confirmed it offers strong protection. Vaccines are emerging from an all-out worldwide race and are reaching the market less than a year after the virus was even identified a remarkable scientific achievement that shaved years off the usual process.

The encouraging developments come as the coronavirus continues surging across much of the world. The scourge has claimed more than 1.5 million lives, including over 285,000 in the U.S., the highest toll of any country. U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientists are meeting on Thursday when the agencys independent advisers will debate if the evidence is strong enough to recommend vaccinating millions of Americans.

It is encouraging to see that our mRNA vaccine is now authorized in Canada. Following U.K. and Bahrain, it is the third country to approve use of our vaccine within a week, said Sean Marett, BioNTechs chief business and chief commercial officer.