Eastern Ontario health officials combating vaccine-mixing hesitancy

By Jason White

A delay in a shipment of Pfizer vaccine and a healthy supply of Moderna shots have some eastern Ontario health officials preparing for people to balk at receiving a different brand of the COVID-19 vaccine for their second dose.

Both Pfizer and Moderna are mRNA vaccines, and local health units have been trying to educate people that data show mixing doses is safe and effective.

“It's not unusual for us to interchange vaccines,” said Dr. Paul Roumeliotis, medical officer of health, Eastern Ontario Health Unit. “We do it with flu vaccine all the time, sometimes we use different vaccines from different manufacturers for childhood immunizations or measles immunizations, or so on, so it's nothing new to us.”

Vaccine-mixing hesitancy has started to become a problem, and Ontario's pharmacies have seen people refuse to receive a second dose of vaccine that isn't their preferred brand.

“We did have people cancel appointments, walk out of the pharmacy, because they found out it wasn't a Pfizer, so it has been a real tangible problem on the ground,” said Justin Bates, CEO, Ontario Pharmacists' Association. “I think it's in the thousands, for sure.”

Roumeliotis said public education was part of his health unit's strategy to combat vaccine-mixing hesitancy, but that he hadn't yet heard of anyone in his health unit refusing a vaccine or cancelling an appointment because of the brand.

“If that becomes a trend, we're going to have to re-look at how significant the problem is,” said Roumeliotis. “Do we have other alternatives for them? Do we wait until they get the Pfizer? Those are the things that we're going to be looking at this point.”

Ottawa Public Health has also been combating vaccine-mixing hesitancy, taking to social media to urge people to take whichever mRNA vaccine is the first one available to them.

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