PHAC explains reason for pulling COVID-19 vaccines before new ones approved
CTV
The Public Health Agency of Canada says it asked provinces to get rid of existing COVID-19 vaccines to avoid confusion with new formulations that will have the same drug identification number.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says it asked provinces to get rid of existing COVID-19 vaccines to avoid confusion with new formulations that will have the same drug identification number.
"We can't have them both in the same pharmacy, the same vaccine clinic, at the same time, because you won't have any way to distinguish what is what," says Dr. Donald Sheppard, PHAC's vice-president of infectious diseases and vaccination programs branch.
Health Canada says it is reviewing updated COVID-19 vaccines that essentially modify the current shot to target a more recent strain of the virus for an expected fall rollout.
That's opposed to waiting for an entirely new formulation that would carry a different number but take longer to develop from scratch and slow down the approval process.
Sheppard is explaining what's behind the federal agency's plan after some pharmacists and doctors said removing current COVID-19 vaccines before new ones are approved could leave gaps in vaccine access spanning weeks.
This is the practice with other regularly updated vaccines, including those for influenza, according to Sheppard.
Canada has entered a similarly routine phase for COVID-19 vaccinations, Sheppard says, noting the past several shots have been updated versions of previous formulations but those rollouts didn't direct provinces to dump old stock.
