SpikeVax, Vaxzevria, Comirnaty. No, these aren’t new Pokemon. Here’s what people are saying about the new COVID vaccine names - Toronto Star

Health Canada has authorized the renaming of all three COVID-19 vaccines.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will now be named Comirnaty, the Moderna vaccine will be named SpikeVax, and the AstraZeneca vaccine will be named Vaxzevria, the health agency said in a tweet Thursday.

Health Canada assures the public that these are only name changes and that there are no changes to the vaccines themselves.

The new changes have already been rolled out in the EU and the United States for promotional purposes.

“Although the vaccine's brand name will be COMIRNATY following this approval, Canada will continue to receive vials of the vaccine labeled as Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine,” Pfizer said Thursday.

Moderna issued its own statement thanking the health agency for its hard work and confidence in fully approving use of the vaccine in people 12 and older.

And while the vaccines have officially received full Health Canada approval, much of the reaction online is decidedly less encouraging.

Here’s what people had to say

There are plenty of Twitter users expressing concern about the name changes creating further confusion and failing to curb vaccine hesitancy.

Some said the strange sounding names sounded “cool” while others said they were “unpronounceable.”

Even health care experts like infectious diseases physician and scientist Isaac Bogoch weighed in on the conversation.

Dorcas Marfo is a reporter for the Star's radio room based in Toronto. Reach Dorcas via email: dmarfo@thestar.ca

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be registered Torstar account holder. If you do not yet have a Torstar account, you can create one now (it is free)

Sign In

Register

Conversations are opinions of our readers and are subject to the Code of Conduct. The Star does not endorse these opinions.

Adblock test (Why?)

https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMipwFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVzdGFyLmNvbS9uZXdzL2d0YS8yMDIxLzA5LzE2L3NwaWtldmF4LXZheHpldnJpYS1jb21pcm5hdHktbm8tdGhlc2UtYXJlbnQtbmV3LXBva2Vtb24taGVyZXMtd2hhdC1wZW9wbGUtYXJlLXNheWluZy1hYm91dC10aGUtbmV3LWNvdmlkLXZhY2NpbmUtbmFtZXMuaHRtbNIBAA?oc=5

2021-09-16 21:56:15Z
52781885573488