Canadians should wait for Pfizer or Moderna: committee
OTTAWA — The federal government’s vaccine advisory committee is recommending people who can wait for an MRNA vaccine, like Pfizer or Moderna, hold out for it, once again contradicting the long-standing advice to Canadians to get the first shot they’re offered.
On Monday, the National Advisory Council on Immunization (NACI) issued its recommendation for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Due to an extremely rare blood clotting issue, NACI is recommending that the vaccine be given to people over the age of 30, who don’t want to wait for a MRNA vaccine.
NACI’S co-chair, Dr. Shelley Deeks, said the MRNA vaccines have been proven to offer strong protection and don’t come with the rare blood clot risk.
“What we’re saying and what we’ve said all along is that MRNA vaccines are the preferred vaccine,” she said.
NACI’S advice on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, created by its European division Janssen, is similar to the advice they offered when recommending the Astrazeneca vaccine for people over 30 due to the blood clot risk.
The U.S. has administered roughly eight million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine and has reported 17 cases of the rare blood clot. Canada has administered just over two million Astrazeneca shots and has reported seven cases of the clot, one of which was fatal.
Deeks said while the clots were rare, they were extremely serious and Canadians deserved to know the risk, before they accepted a vaccine.
“They need to make an informed choice as to whether they would prefer to get vaccinated sooner with a Janssen, or Astrazeneca vaccine or wait to receive the MRNA vaccine,” she said.
COVID rates vary across the country and Deeks said everyone needs to make a choice based on their own circumstances.
“If someone working from home, not really going out, in a province or territory where there’s not much disease, then they’re in a very different situation than somebody that works in, let’s say a manufacturing plant.”
Earlier this year, NACI also advised provinces to spread out second doses of the vaccine up to four months in order to reach as many people as possible with some protection. Deeks said she stands by that recommendation.
“Given our third wave and what is being experienced across the country, trying to ensure that the majority of Canadians get their first dose actually really kept us in good standing.”
Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious disease expert and associate professor at Mcmaster University, said he understands NACI’S recommendation has to consider the whole country, but for most Canadians the right vaccine is the one in front of them.
“In most places where the outbreak is ongoing in Canada, it would make sense to get the first vaccine possible.
Health care is in demand, you’re seeing high levels of transmission, these variants are causing younger people to be sick.”
He said the longer it takes for Canadians to get vaccinated, the longer it will take to lift lockdowns, ease pressure on hospitals and get things back to normal.
“At the end of the day, if people don’t get the first vaccine they’re offered in Ontario and ended up getting COVID-19 and on a ventilator, that has impacts not only on that person, but it has impacts on society.”
Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer, said all of the vaccines prevent the worst outcomes and, with cases still high, people should be getting any vaccine that will protect them.
“All of the four approved vaccines in Canada, including, you know the Janssen vaccine, has been shown through the trials to be effective in preventing serious consequences, serious illness and death.”
Currently Canadians don’t have much of a choice over vaccines, because the MRNA vaccines are the ones arriving in large numbers.
Canada has mostly exhausted its current supply of Astrazeneca vaccines and while the government has a contract for a total of 20 million doses, there are no deliveries currently expected. The government received 300,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, but is holding them back due to potential quality control issues at a U.S. factory where a key ingredient was made.