Canada’s Public Health Agency Orders Provinces to Destroy Old COVID Shots

Officials at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), the federal regulatory agency that manages public health affairs in Canada, told provincial governments to destroy existing COVID-19 shots to avoid confusion with new formulations of the booster shot that has the same drug identification number.¹

COVID Shots That Target Older SARS-CoV-2 Variants to Be Destroyed

Dr. Donald Sheppard, PHAC’s Vice President of Infectious Diseases and Vaccination Programs branch, said that removing current COVID shots before new ones are approved could leave gaps in vaccine access for a few weeks.²

Commenting on PHAC’s guidance, Amir Attaran, PhD, a professor at the University of Ottawa said, “There will literally not be one person vaccinated in Canada in September.”³ The updated COVID boosters will be available in October 2024.⁴ Dr. Attaran added that this is usually the same process with other routine vaccines that are updated seasonally, such as the influenza vaccine.

According to Dr. Sheppard, Canada has begun its long-term routine phase for COVID-19 shots. He said the past several COVID-19 shots were updated versions of previous formulations; therefore, those rollouts did not require provinces to dispose of the previous shots.⁵

The current COVID-19 shots used in Canada targets the XBB variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus; however, since it is no longer the variant that is believed to be circulating, Pfizer and Moderna have updated the shots to target a newer variant and is currently waiting on approval for use in Canada. PHAC stated:

Once approved, updated COVID-19 vaccines will replace the current supply. Withdrawing the previous XBB vaccines is part of regulatory and supply management best practices, consistent with the approach to annual influenza vaccines.⁶

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pfizer’s and Moderna’s mRNA versions of the 2024-2025 updated COVID shot. Both shots target the KP.2 strain of the JN.1 lineage of SARS-CoV-2.⁷

Provinces Preparing to Dispose Old COVID Shots

The Ontario Ministry of Health has ordered the province of Ontario to withdraw and destroy all remaining supplies of the current COVID shots. As of Sept. 6, 2024, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories and New Brunswick have all suspended their COVID vaccine campaigns. Quebec is expected to suspend their COVID vaccine campaign on Sept. 14, 2024. British Columbia’s provincial health officer said the current COVID shot would be available until the updated one is approved.⁸

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