Vaccine panel issues guidelines for seniors

Advises Pfizer, Moderna shots should be used

TORONTO • The National Advisory Committee on Immunization released new guidelines on Monday that advise against vaccinating people who are 65 years and older with Astrazeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, citing lack of information about efficacy in that age group.

NACI says doses of the MRNA vaccines from Pfizer-biontech and Moderna should be prioritized for older age groups and other “key populations” at highest risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19.

The vaccine was authorized for people who are 18 and older by drug regulator Health Canada on Friday. The committee’s recommendations are not binding, but may influence provincial vaccination plans.

Health Canada’s decision noted that available clinical trial data was too limited to reliably estimate how well the vaccine worked in people 65 and older.

But it also said “emerging real world evidence” in places that had already started using the vaccine suggested a potential benefit and no safety concerns.

The recommendations noted that the Astrazeneca vaccine could help speed up vaccination for younger age groups, who otherwise would have to wait longer for protection.

Data from clinical trials suggested Astrazeneca was 62 per cent effective against acquiring the virus when two full doses were given 28 days apart.

That compares with the 95 per cent efficacy from the clinical trials of Pfizer-biontech and Moderna, the other two vaccines currently approved in Canada.

A real-word study published last week showed the Astrazeneca vaccine was 94 per cent effective in preventing hospitalization after the first dose. The findings were based on data from nearly 500,000 people who received the first dose of the Astrazeneca vaccine in Scotland.

In Germany, advice to use the vaccine only for people under 65 has led to low uptake of available doses.