London officials shifting COVID-19 vaccine plans amid supply delays - London Free Press (Blogs)

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London-area public health officials will heavily rely on Moderna vaccines in the coming days to maintain the pace of the region’s inoculation campaign against COVID-19 amid a delayed shipment from Pfizer.

Starting on Monday and for this week, three of the four mass vaccination clinics in the London area – the Western Fair Agriplex, North London Optimist Community Centre and the Caradoc Community Centre in Mount Brydges – will only offer to adults the mRNA vaccine produced by Moderna, the Middlesex-London Health Unit announced Sunday.

A limited supply of Pfizer vaccines will still be available at the three clinics for youth aged 12 to 17. In Canada, only the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been authorized for use in youth.

Officials were encouraging Londoners and Middlesex County residents to take the first available mRNA vaccine for their second dose in an attempt to “get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

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“Regardless of which vaccine you received for your first dose, Moderna is an excellent vaccine for your second dose,” Dr. Chris Mackie, the region’s medical officer of health, said in a statement.

“Pfizer and Moderna are essentially different brands of the same vaccine, and you will have the same protection against COVID-19 regardless of what you get for your first or second dose.”

Up to this point in the local vaccine rollout, the Pfizer vaccine was the most commonly used in London and surrounding communities thanks to the reliability of shipments.

But Moderna has recently boosted its supply, allowing the local health unit to fast-track second dose appointments.

Just last week, the Middlesex-London Health Unit announced it was receiving an additional 17,000 doses this weekend and a similar amount late next week, allowing about 50,000 more people to move up their second dose appointments.

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BOOK AN APPOINTMENT

Online: covidvaccinelm.ca

Phone: 226-289-3560 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., seven days a week

First-dose eligibility: People 12 and older. Youth 12 to 17 are eligible for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine only.

Fast-tracked second doses: High-priority health-care workers and other target populations, seniors 70 and older, Indigenous people and anyone who got a first dose on or before May 9.

Minimum timeline: 28 days between doses for Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna recipients. Eight weeks for Oxford-AstraZeneca recipients.

Clinics:

Western Fair District Agriplex, 845 Florence St., London

North London Optimist community centre, 1345 Cheapside St.

Caradoc community centre, 565 Lions Park Dr., Mt. Brydges

Earl Nichols arena, 799 Homeview Rd., London

St. Thomas-Elgin Memorial arena, 80 Wilson St., St. Thomas

Woodstock community complex, 381 Finkle St., Woodstock

Tillsonburg community centre, 45 Hardy Ave., Tillsonburg

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London officials shifting COVID-19 vaccine plans amid supply delays - London Free Press (Blogs)
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