What you need to know about getting both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine - CBC.ca

The goal is to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible, but there are still questions over just how effective these vaccines will be if policymakers stray too far from the guidelines.

Official guidelines say the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is meant to be given as two doses, 21 days apart, while Moderna recommends spacing doses 28 days apart. .

But, since vaccine shipments are still trickling in, the panel offered some wiggle room — suggesting the second dose for either vaccine could be delayed up to six weeks at the most.

"The flexibility provided by a reasonable extension of the dose interval to 42 days where operationally necessary, combined with increasing predictability of vaccine supply, support our public health objective to protect high-risk groups as quickly as possible," reads a statement released Thursday from Dr.

Vaccine efficacy for Pfizer-BioNTech's option was around 95 per cent after both doses; for Moderna's it was around 94 per cent following the second dose.

While research suggests there may be some level of protection from even just one shot, the consensus in Canada is that following guidelines based on the clinical trial data — as closely as possible — is the best bet to ensure people are protected.

Howard Njoo discusses spacing vaccine doses out 42 days:.

Clinical trials showed the level of protection from just one dose is lower for both vaccines, and it also takes time for your body to react — meaning you aren't protected immediately after getting a shot.

The highest level of efficacy reported for Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine started a week after people got their second dose, and after at least two weeks following the second dose of the Moderna option.

Long-term research will be helpful in confirming just how much protection people get from one dose of either of the approved two-dose vaccines, and how long it's safe to delay the second shot.

But since federal recommendations suggest delaying a second dose up to 42 days at the most, other regions are considering a looser approach. .

The province's Health Minister Christian Dubé stressed it's about protecting as many people as possible with a first dose before April, when vaccine shipments from Ottawa are expected to ramp up. .