HALF OF PEOPLE OFFERED MODERNA COVID SHOT REFUSE IT, ONTARIO PHARMACISTS ASSOCIATION SAYS.

By Chandrayee Roy Choudhury, Canada: Approximately half of all individuals in Ontario who are being offered a Moderna Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine are now refusing it.

That’s according to Justin Bates, the CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association.

Bates said it is also “taking a lot longer” to convince people who were expecting a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine that “Moderna is a very wise choice.”

Asked why so many people are refusing the Moderna shot, Bates said two things are happening “simultaneously.”

“One is what we’ll call consumer perception, brand awareness,” he explained. “There’s just generally more awareness of the company of Pfizer — and I think that leads a lot of people to even unconsciously want to select it.”

efficacy of Moderna is much greater, or at least a little bit greater against the Omicron and Delta variants, and it is safe and effective.”

Bates said both Pfizer and Moderna are “extremely good vaccines — the same.”