Photo Provided By Northwestern Health Unit
If you got either the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for your first dose, you may not receive the same brand for your second dose.
This guidance comes from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization and the Northwestern Health Unit says they’ll use the vaccines interchangeably, depending on local vaccine supply.
“Using a different brand of vaccine to complete a vaccine series is a common practice in routine vaccination for other diseases,” explains Dr. Kit Young Hoon, Medical Officer of Health at NWHU.
The region’s top doctor continues: “The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are nearly identical in all aspects and NACI has said that there is no reason to believe that providing a different mRNA vaccine for a second dose would result in any additional safety issues or less protection.”
Dr. Young Hoon stresses getting a second dose of any mRNA vaccine is crucial to increase protection against more transmissible COVID variants, such as the Delta (B.1.617) variant.
To date 70% of the eligible population in the NWHU’s coverage area has at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
As of Monday, anyone who had their first dose on or before April 18, 2021 can get their second dose, as well as other eligible priority groups.
Anyone eligible for a first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine can book through the online provincial booking system.
