Quebec to give COVID-19 vaccine doses as many as 90 days apart – National Post

Quebec to give COVID-19 vaccine doses as many as 90 days apart – National Post

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TORONTO — Quebec may space out doses of COVID-19 vaccines by as long as 90 days, the province said on Thursday, beyond the 42-day interval recommended by a national advisory council, as high case loads threaten to overwhelm its hospitals.

The approach is similar to that in the United Kingdom, where drug regulators have said shots can be administered up to 12 weeks apart.

“Our experts recommend that the second dose of the vaccine be given between 42 and 90 days. In our context this is the best strategy because we have to deal with very few vaccines,” said Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé.

Quebec imposed a night curfew last week to combat soaring cases. It reported 2,132 additional cases and 63 more deaths on Thursday.

Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine was authorized in Canada with 21 days between doses, and Moderna’s vaccine with a 28-day interval.

Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) has said efforts should be made to vaccinate on that schedule but acknowledged on Tuesday some places may wish to protect more people by delaying the second dose, giving it “preferably within 42 days” of the first dose.

The European Medicines Agency has said there should be a maximum interval of 42 days between the first and second shots of the Pfizer vaccine.

Published at Thu, 14 Jan 2021 19:28:14 +0000