B.C. pharmacies seeing cancelled vaccine appointments after new AstraZeneca guidance
Some people are cancelling their vaccine appointments at B.C. pharmacies after new guidance was issued for AstraZeneca.
Azmina Jiwa is the owner of Bonsor Pharmacy in Burnaby. She says “some people have cancelled” their second-dose appointments “and a few are undecided.”
That’s something also being seen at London Drugs.
“We did have some people cancel their appointment, but not a significant number,” said Chris Chiew, general manager of pharmacy for London Drugs.
The cancellations come after the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) changed its guidance. On Thursday, the committee announced it is now recommending that people who received a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine receive a second dose of an mRNA vaccine, such as Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.
So far, B.C.’s guidance has not changed. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry stressed Thursday that “two doses of whatever vaccine you receive are safe and effective."
The mixed messaging is causing confusion.
Horacio Bach is a clinical assistant professor with the division of infectious diseases at UBC. He says there was no need for the committee to issue the new guidance.
“I think it was an unnecessary confusion to do that,” Bach said, adding when it comes to efficacy, AstraZeneca’s is extremely high.
“Recent studies released from the U.K. show the effectivity is 85 to 90 per cent, so it’s very close to the Pfizer (vaccine’s efficacy),” he said.
Both Jiwa and Chiew say despite the confusion, people are still making appointments for second AstraZeneca shots. London Drugs is even planning to ramp up the rollout beyond the 20 locations currently offering vaccines.
“We’re hoping that all the stores that we have in B.C., all the locations will be able to offer second doses, but it also depends on supply too,” Chiew said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.