Vaccine panel says delay in second dose acceptable

OTTAWA — Canada’s national panel of vaccine experts says a worsening pandemic and limited supplies of COVID-19 vaccines are good enough reasons to temporarily delay giving a second dose but would prefer the planned schedule is followed whenever possible.

The two COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in Canada require two doses, with Pfizer and Biontech’s vaccine label requiring two doses given 21 days apart, and Moderna’s needing two doses 28 days apart.

In new recommendations issued late Tuesday, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, or NACI, said every effort should be made to follow those dosing schedules. However it notes there can be exceptions, particularly when vaccine supplies are so hard to come by and the spread of the virus in a given jurisdiction is rapid.

“Model-based studies suggest population health benefits may be greater with a more balanced approach that does not withhold doses during early distribution in order to vaccinate more people as soon as possible, when early supplies of highly efficacious COVID-19 vaccines are constrained,” the advice reads.

Canada is getting 80 million doses of vaccine this year, enough to vaccinate everyone, but only six million doses are coming this winter, and another 20 million by the end of June. At two doses, on schedule, Canada could fully vaccinate about 13 million people by the summer, which is less than half the total population.