By Canadian Press

Goodbye Pfizer, hello Comirnaty: top COVID-19 vaccines renamed in Canada

Sep 16, 2021 | 9:30 AM

OTTAWA — Health Canada announced the Pfizer, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines have been given new names.

New brand names for the vaccines have been approved at the request of the drug companies.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has now been dubbed Comirnaty, which the company says represents a combination of the terms COVID-19, mRNA, community, and immunity.

The Moderna vaccine will go by SpikeVax and the AstraZeneca vaccine will be named Vaxzevria.

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

off the schedule

BC Ferries preemptively cancels early Saturday sailings

4h ago

firm handshake

B.C. NDP government, Greens reach 'shared priorities' agreement

6h ago

young volunteers

'Make a big difference:' Nanaimo volunteers collecting warm clothing for those in need

8h ago

The new names are already being used for promotional purposes in the EU and the United States.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2021.

The Canadian Press