B.C. pharmacies worry AstraZeneca doses could go to waste
When the province told pharmacies to stop giving out first doses of AstraZeneca, many had already run out of the vaccine. But some still have vials in their fridges.
“We have 20 doses left, of the 220 that were initially given to us,” said Jason Cridge of Cridge Family Pharmacy in Victoria. “I know there are many other pharmacies in Victoria that have 100-plus doses left.”
Now that the National Advisory Committee on Immunization has said people who had a first dose of AstraZeneca can safely take Pfizer for dose two, Cridge suspects most of them will.
“I don’t know any patients that need to have AstraZeneca as their second dose,” he said. “I think most of them wouldn’t mind having Pfizer as their second.”
The province is still committed to having enough AstraZeneca for second doses for all 275,000 British Columbians who received that vaccine as their first shot.
“Right now, we have on-hand enough vaccine to do 50 per cent of those who received first doses of AstraZeneca, and we are going to get more,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix.
But Cridge wonders if it’s wise for B.C. to accept more AstraZeneca now that people can choose Pfizer instead.
“I don’t think it would make sense to do that,” he said. “It would be a shame that those vaccines go to waste.”
Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, agrees.
“We don’t want to, of course, leave any vaccine doses unused, and that has to be minimized,” she said.
But she says it’s difficult to know how many Canadians will want AstraZeneca a second time.
“We don’t want to be ordering vaccines if we’re not using it,” Tam said. “That can only be ascertained in a more granular way once we see what the uptake looks like in the coming days.”
British Columbians who choose Astrazeneca should find out Thursday how long the second dose interval will be, and whether the shots will once again be available in pharmacies. It’s the only vaccine they have been allowed to distribute, which is an ongoing source of frustration in the industry.
“Moderna and Pfizer are available in most pharmacies across Canada, except B.C., and the real question should be, ‘Why has the government made that decision which flies in the face of the judgement of many other provinces?’” said Cridge.
As for the AstraZeneca still sitting in pharmacy fridges?
“We have been told not to give first doses, and we have been told not to give second doses, so there is really not much we can do with them at this point,” Cridge said. “They just hang out in the fridge and many expire June 26, so there are 24 days to do something with them.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.