by: sarah bugden
the pfizer and moderna covid-19 vaccines are “interchangeable” and albertans should book the earliest appointment for whichever is available, provincial officials say amid a shipment delay.
alberta is set to receive about 280,000 doses of pfizer this week, but canada’s scheduled shipment of 2.4 million doses isn’t expected to arrive until mid-week.
alberta health services (ahs) says those who book for moderna will be able to get an appointment sooner.
“both pfizer and moderna are mrna vaccines and work in the same way. they are now considered to be interchangeable,” the health authority tweeted on sunday.
dr. deena hinshaw, the province’s chief medical officer of health, echoed that monday in a series of tweets, saying the formulas are “not identical but extremely similar and it’s perfectly okay to get one dose of each.”
she encouraged albertans to book the first available vaccine appointment for either first or second doses.
tom mcmillan, a spokesman for alberta health, said in a statement the province is expecting 266,000 fewer pfizer doses than originally planned over the next few weeks, but he noted the province received an increase of 434,400 moderna doses last week.