Boxes of some of the first $ 500,000 dose of the $ 2 million AstraZeneca coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine that Canada has secured through an agreement with the Serum Institute of India in collaboration with Verity Pharma in a facility Milton, Ontario, Canada 3, 2021. REUTERS / Carlos Osorio
The Canadian province of Ontario will begin offering AstraZeneca COVID-19 (AZN.L) vaccine on Tuesday to people who turn 40 or older this year, according to a government source.
The change will expand access to vaccines as a third wave of infections threatens to overwhelm hospitals in Canada’s most populous province and should facilitate the use of doses that in some cases have been accumulating in the pharmacies.
The change will be announced Monday and will take effect across the province on Tuesday, according to the source. The vaccine has already been distributed in pharmacies, but is currently only available to people who are 55 years of age or older this year.
Ontario on Friday announced new public health measures, promising checkpoints at provincial borders, new police powers and the closure of outdoor facilities, leaving many jobs open. The measures were widely criticized by doctors and public health experts and the province quickly opened playgrounds and modified the new police powers.
On March 29, Health Canada said it would review reports of blood clots and severe bleeding in a small number of people who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine in other countries, and an independent group called the National Advisory Council on Immunization (NACI) recommend that it can only be given to people over 55 years of age. All provinces followed this advice.
But the NACI recommendations are not binding. Last week, Health Canada, the country’s drug regulator, said it had reviewed all available evidence and would not restrict vaccine use, because its benefits outweigh its potential risks. Health Canada said at the time that NACI was reviewing its recommendations.
On Sunday, the NACI president told Reuters that the group would make a new recommendation on Tuesday.
Health Canada said UK regulators had estimated the risk of clots to be very small, around four out of every million people receiving the vaccine. The complication was also said to be treatable. Two people have developed it in Canada and both are recovering.
Several other countries have limited the use of the vaccine to the elderly. Denmark has withdrawn the shot and Norway said on Thursday it would take longer to decide whether to continue using it.
Ontario reported 4,250 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday. The Ontario Hospital Association said 59 patients were admitted to intensive care on Saturday, bringing the number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU to 737.
Health Canada says those receiving the vaccine should seek medical attention immediately if they have difficulty breathing, chest pain, swollen legs, persistent abdominal pain, neurological symptoms such as severe headaches or blurred vision, or bruises. skin or small bloodstains under the skin the injection site.
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