Update: March 8, 2023 – Limited supplies of Moderna infant pediatric COVID-19 vaccine available due to expiration extension.

Health Canada has issued an expiration date extension for this product; limited quantities will be available until new inventory is made available by the federal government.  In the mean-time, residents can reach out to their health centre or public health unit if they wish to have their child vaccinated and requests will be accommodated wherever possible based on availability of vaccine. The timeline for resupply of Moderna infant pediatric vaccine has not changed and regular supply is expected to be reinstated in April, 2023. 

(Yellowknife – February 28, 2023) Starting Thursday, March 9, 2023, availability of Moderna’s SPIKEVAX COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 6 months – 5 years old (infant pediatric) will be paused temporarily until a new shipment of vaccines arrives in Canada. This is due to the expiration of the current inventory of this vaccine. There will be a gap in availability of infant pediatric vaccine of approximately 4 to 6 weeks until new supply is available for distribution in NWT.

The current inventory of Moderna SPIKEVAX infant pediatric vaccines continue to be available up until Wednesday, March 8. When new supply is received in April, health facilities will again be able to provide those who require a first dose or are due for a second dose immunization against COVID-19.

In Yellowknife, booking an appointment online is preferred for those in the 6 month to 5 year of age group walk-ins are available Tuesdays and Saturdays. For all other communities contact your health centre or public health unit for information on vaccination, including appointment bookings.

For more information on vaccine eligibility and clinic hours, visit here.

Although an alternative Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine is available for the infant pediatric age group, this product is not in NWT’s inventory. The Pfizer vaccine for infant peds requires a three dose primary series compared to Moderna’s two doses, and as a result requires a more time to complete a primary series. With the anticipated duration of gap in Moderna availability, the Pfizer product would not provide an advantage in timeframe to complete a primary series.