MLHU top doctor not concerning himself over renaming of COVID vaccines in Canada

Pharmacist Barbara Violo shows off a vile of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine after providing doses to customers at the Junction Chemist which is a independent pharmacy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Friday, March 12, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Exeter, Ont. -

The medical officer of health for the Middlesex London Health Unit (MLHU) isn’t concerned about the renaming of the COVID-19 vaccines in Canada

“This is really a branding and marketing issue,” said Dr. Chris Mackie. “If it's something that the vaccine manufacturers feel is important, from my perspective, you know, it's not really where we put a lot of our attention.”

Health Canada announced on Thursday morning that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has now been dubbed Comirnaty, Moderna vaccine will go by SpikeVax and the AstraZeneca vaccine will be named Vaxzevria.

Mackie says the health unit wants to use the terms that people will recognize and understand.

“The name of the vaccine is not the primary concern for us,” he says, “It's really the safety and effectiveness, and we have two excellent mRNA vaccines and strong AstraZeneca vaccines.”

Health Canada points out the vaccines themselves are not changing — only the names are.

The new names are already being used for promotional purposes in the Europen Unionand the United States.

 

— With files from The Canadian Press