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Pfizer shortage will have 'significant' impact in immediate period, says B.C. health minister – CBC.ca
British Columbia’s health minister says the reduction in shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to Canada will have a significant effect, but just in the immediate period.
Adrian Dix said the limited supply of vaccine because of a delay of shipments announced by the pharmaceutical giant will affect vaccination plans through February and March in B.C.
The shortage means the province will receive about half of the 50,000 doses it was supposed to get through that period, Dix said at a news conference Friday.
“And obviously, any time we get reports that we’re going to get more vaccine, we’re happy,” he said. “And any time we get reports that we’re going to get less vaccine, we’re not as happy.”
The shortage could mean that health officials have to revisit the 35-day gap between providing the first and second doses of the vaccine, he said.
“So, what it means for British Columbia is it’ll have some effect, some significant effect, on this stage of the priority one groups that we’ve laid out over when they get their doses,” he said. “And a contributing factor to that is the discussion of second doses and when they come forward.”
Hopes for ‘a small blip’
The province has concentrated distribution of its first doses of vaccine to front-line health-care workers, those working and living in long-term care facilities and First Nations communities.
The World Health Organization recommends the doses of vaccines be given 21 to 28 days apart. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said B.C.’s decision for a 35-day gap is safe and would allow for more people to get their vaccine.
The province reported 509 new COVID-19 cases on Friday for a total of 60,117 infections in British Columbia.
It also reported an additional nine deaths, bringing the number of fatalities to 1,047.
Almost 76,000 residents have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine so far.
Federal Procurement Minister Anita Anand said Friday there would be an “unfortunate” delay where only half of Canada’s promised COVID-19 vaccine doses by Pfizer-BioNTech will arrive in the next month. The delay is caused by production issues at a plant in Belgium.
Dix said there’s no change in the amount of Moderna allocation that the province is receiving.
The premier and health officials will have further announcements about proceeding with vaccination plans in the coming week, he said.
“It’s our hope that this is just a small blip in what’s happening,” Dix said. “But regardless, with the change in circumstances, we’ll have to get organized around that change.”
British Columbia health officials are working to determine how to prioritize who gets a COVID-19 immunization, amid a reduction in shipments of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine they admit will have a significant effect.
Pfizer has announced a temporary delay in shipments of the vaccine as it scales up its European production centre.
That means that the 50,000-dose shipment British Columbia was expecting in February will be slashed in half.
“In some sectors the delivery will be delayed and that is just the reality we face,” Dix told Global News on Friday.
“What it will really affect is the February and March period … it obviously impacts the priority groups and second doses as well.”
Dix added that there was no interruption in the supply of the Moderna vaccine, and that the delay would have little effect on Pfizer shipments next week.
In an interview with Global’s Focus BC, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said her team was working to determine who will and won’t get their shot in that time period.
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Officials must weigh whether to skip some front-line workers who are still waiting for their shot, or to extend the time period between when each person receives their first and second dose.
Pfizer guidelines call for the doses to be administered 21 days apart, while Canada’s vaccine advisory committee has recommended vaccines be given a maximum of 42 days after the first.
Quebec is considering spreading the doses by as many as 90 days.
“People need to be reassured that even after 48 days and longer, it does not just drop off dramatically,” Henry said.
“We will look at how much vaccine is coming in, how many people are due to get their vaccine in that week (when) we will have less, and then we will have to make decisions on we have to optimize who gets vaccine at that time.”
Henry said the silver lining of the temporary delay in doses was that the work Pfizer is doing at its plant will allow it to produce more vaccine down the road, some of which will come to British Columbia.
As of Friday, B.C. had given at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine to nearly 76,000 people.
The province has concentrated distribution of its first doses of vaccine to front-line health-care workers, those working and living in long-term care facilities and First Nations communities.
Federal Procurement Minister Anita Anand said Friday the issues at Pfizer’s Belgium plant would result in an be an “unfortunate” situation where Canada would see its expected shipment of vaccine in February cut in half.
— With files from Richard Zussman and the Canadian Press
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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