TORONTO (AP) – A Canadian National Vaccine Expert Group on Wednesday recommended that provinces extend the two-dose range of a four-month shot COVID-19 to rapidly inoculate more people amid a shortage of doses in Canada .
A number of provinces have said they will do just that.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also expressed optimism that vaccination deadlines could be accelerated. Health Canada, the country’s regulator, also said emerging evidence suggests high efficacy for several weeks after the first dose and noted the group’s recommendation in a tweet. But two high-ranking health officials called it an experiment.
The current protocol is a three to four week interval between doses for Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines. Johnson & Johnson is a single-dose vaccine, but it has not yet been approved in Canada.
The National Immunization Advisory Committee said extending the dose interval to four months would allow 80% of Canadians over the age of 16 to receive a single dose by the end of June, simply with the expected supply of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, and Modern. .
The second dose will begin in July, with more shipments arriving, the group said, noting that 55 million doses are expected to be delivered in July, August and September.
In comparison, the federal government previously said that 38% of people will receive two doses by the end of June.
“They do, I think, make a reasonable calculation in a time of drug shortage,” said Dr. Andrew Morris, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Toronto and medical director of the Sinai-University Health Network’s Antimicrobial Administration Program. “It’s the right decision in my mind. Let me ask … A couple gets two vaccines. Do you give two to one or do you give a dose? It’s a “brainer.”
The addition of the recently approved AstraZeneca vaccine to the country’s supply could mean that almost all Canadians will receive the first shot in that time.
“The effectiveness of the vaccine for the first dose will be closely monitored, and the decision to delay the second dose will be continuously evaluated based on surveillance and efficacy data and post-implementation study projects,” the group wrote.
“The effectiveness against variants of concern will also be closely monitored and recommendations may be needed for review,” he said, adding that there is currently no evidence that a longer interval will affect the emergence of variants.
The updated guide applies to all three vaccines currently approved for use in Canada.
The committee’s recommendation came hours after the Atlantic coast province of Newfoundland said it would extend the range of the first and second doses to four months and days after British Columbia health officials announced they were doing so. this thing.
Manitoba and Quebec also said Wednesday they would delay the second dose. The Ontario health minister also said Ontario would speed up the vaccine launch quickly.
Earlier Wednesday, Trudeau said any changes to the public health guidelines regarding the timing of the two doses could affect the speed of vaccine launches in Canada, as could the approval of several vaccines such as Johnson and Johnson.
The provinces of Canada administer health care in the country, so it is up to the province.
Dr. Brad Wouters, executive vice president of science and research at the University Health Network, questioned the recommendation. “No one in the world has spent 4 months between doses. These are RNA vaccines used so far. We should use evidence to make decisions. Canada is conducting a population experiment, “Wouters wrote on Twitter.
Mona Nemer, the federal government’s chief adviser, also said this week that the plan is a “population-level experiment” and that data provided so far by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are based on a three- to four-week interval between dose.
But Dr. Bonnie Henry, British Columbia’s provincial health officer, said manufacturers have structured their clinical trials to bring vaccines to market as soon as possible, but said research in British Columbia, Quebec, Israel and the United Kingdom United have shown that first the doses are extremely effective.
Dr. Supriya Sharma, chief medical adviser for Health Canada, the country’s regulator, told the Canadian broadcasting company in a limited supply time that they are beginning to have more comfort with the idea of waiting for the second dose after saw real-world data versus strict interpretation of clinical trials.
“In the real world we are starting to see evidence from other countries that have delayed the second dose. ‘Oh, they still seem to have very good efficacy.’ We have laboratory studies that show that the immune response is unlikely to decrease, “said Sharma.