Zero waste policy: Maritime officials say every bit of COVID-19 vaccine is being used

HALIFAX -

As thousands of Atlantic Canadians roll up their sleeves for shots of COVID-19 vaccines, health officials are urging anyone still shopping for Pfizer to get over it and fast.

Moderna shipments will soon start outpacing Pfizer, and people determined to get the latter could end up waiting quite a while.

In the meantime, officials insist hardly any vaccine is going to waste.

"We have a zero waste policy," says Allison Bodnar, CEO of the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia, adding members have perfected the art of getting every drop from every vial, which translates into extra doses at the end of the day.

As it stands, appointments are still being filled as quickly as they are posted, despite persistent rumours of ongoing vaccine shopping.

"I’ve heard the occasional story and I mean just the occasional story. That someone is preferring one vaccine over another, but, if it's out there, it's super small,” says Bodnar.

Dartmouth pharmacist Diane Harpell says she and her colleagues are well aware every shot counts in ending the pandemic.

"We're helping to do that to pick-up the pace, so if there's an extra dose to be had, we make sure that it goes into somebody's arm," says Harpell, who's also chair of the pharmacy association.

Even with expanding eligibility, there's always a demand for extra doses according to New Brunswick's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Jennifer Russell.

"They always have wait lists and backup lists of people they can call because no, we don't want, I would be sick if there was wastage, so no, we can't have that," Russell told CTV news Tuesday.

She also disputes reports that thousands of people recently walked away from previously booked appointments when Moderna was substituted for Pfizer.

"I can tell you that there obviously hasn't been thousands because the wastage that we're calculating right now is at 0.083 per cent. So, I don't think those numbers are accurate," said Russell.

Pfizer's only advantage was a marketing jump start Russell says - a sentiment echoed by officials in Nova Scotia.

"These mNRA vaccines are completely interchangeable. They really are like Pepsi and Coke at this point," Nova Scotia's Vaccine Strategy Associate Deputy Minister Tracey Barbrick told CTV.

Dianne McInnis got her second Moderna shot Tuesday, but said she would have taken whatever was offered.

"I really wasn't that picky. My husband is older, and he got the AstraZeneca because it was the first available and I was ready to do the same, but the Moderna opened just in time," she said.

Both Russell and Tracey Barbrick note that the Pfizer and Moderna shipments have been fairly evenly split until now, but that will change starting next week, with Moderna ramping up and Pfizer slowing down.

The goal, they say, is to end the pandemic as quickly as possible, so everyone should take the first dose offered, which at this point, will more than likely be Moderna.