Canada kicked off its inoculation campaign against COVID-19 on Monday by injecting frontline healthcare workers, becoming just the third nation in the world to administer the vaccine of American drugmaker Pfizer in partnership with German company BioNTech.

The first dose went to Anita Quidangen, a personal support worker at the Rekai Centre, a non-profit nursing home for the elderly in Toronto, Canada's largest city. Healthcare workers in masks and white protective coats applauded after she was injected.

More than 60 percent of Canada's 13,350 COVID-19 pandemic deaths overall have been in residences for the elderly, down from 80 percent in the pandemic's first wave.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the first recipients will be workers in hospitals and nursing homes, the most vulnerable segment of the elderly, as well as those living on remote aboriginal reserves.