Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has said that people who got the AstraZeneca vaccine as their first dose should get Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna for their second jab.
It should be recalled that committee said on June 1 that receivers of AstraZeneca vaccine “could” get Pfizer or Moderna for their second shot if they wanted, but the committee recently went further to say that mRNA vaccine was the “preferred” choice.
The Vice-chairman of the committee, Dr. Shelley Deeks said in the new guidance documents that since the advisory committee “first looked at mixed vaccine schedules, new evidence is starting to emerge suggesting immune responses are better when a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine is followed by an mRNA vaccine as a second dose.″
Also, the committee updated its initial recommendation that those who are prone to serious illness from, COVID-19, could choose to get AstraZeneca rather than Pfizer or Moderna. Now it has revealed that those that are not allergic to mRNA vaccines should get them first.
Deeks revealed that the advice is based on the increasing supply of Pfizer and Moderna, and the risk of vaccine-induced blood clots that have been associated with AstraZeneca. But she is still making effort to reassure those that got one or two doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine that they are well protected.
She said: “Anyone who has already received two doses of AstraZeneca/Covishield can rest assured that they are protected, particularly against severe illness.
“There is no need for a third dose at this time.″
The chief public health officer of Canada, Dr. Theresa Tam disclosed that the new evidence that supports mixing various types of vaccines included four studies in Germany.
At a news conference in Ottawa, Tam said: “It’s really the immunogenicity, that immune response, after that mixed-dose schedule that’s resulted in NACI updating this recommendation, because all the accumulated studies essentially suggest that immune response is a better response.″
About 25 million Canadians have received a minimum of one dose of vaccine, and about 6 million Canadians are now fully vaccinated.
Though there are no further shipments of AstraZeneca currently, there are approximately 600,000 doses that remain from previous deliveries.
