Third Product Approved in NS Vaccination Plan

A third supplier of COVID-19 vaccine will be introduced to the province next week, destined for younger Nova Scotians.

AstraZeneca will deliver an initial shipment of 13,000 doses of next week for a program to be administered by Doctors Nova Scotia and the Pharmacy Association.

Premier Iain Rankin first suggested the province would not use this new vaccine, but he later approved the alternate plan.

The AstraZeneca vaccine must be used by April 2, so all 13,000 doses will be administered as first doses starting the week of March 15th. Unlike the current program offered to the most elderly first, this vaccine will be offered on a first come, first served basis to those aged 50-64 at 26 locations across the province.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is given on a two-dose schedule. The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends it to people between the ages 18 and 64. 

Unlike the earlier vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BioNtech, both mRNA vaccines, which are more than 90 per cent effective against COVID-19, the AstraZeneca formula is the first viral-vector-based approved in Canada. Clinical trials suggest it is 62 percent effective. 

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommends that higher efficacy vaccines should be offered to those who are most at risk of severe disease and exposure in order to reduce hospitalizations, deaths, and to limit the worsening of health inequities.

The mRNA vaccines do not contain the COVID-19 virus. They teach our cells how to create the protein needed to trigger an immune response to protect against infection.

The AstraZeneca viral-vector-based vaccine also doesn't use the virus that causes COVID-19, but a different, harmless virus that triggers an immune response.

Moderna and Pfizer-BioNtech vaccines require cold or ultra-low cold storage, while the AstraZeneca product can be transported and stored between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, similar to standard flu vaccine.

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