250,000 AstraZeneca doses arriving in Ontario, could be used for 2nd shots

Ontario’s Solicitor General reaffirmed on Tuesday that the province will be offering the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to people as young as 12 after that age group was approved for the shot by Health Canada.

By Lucas Casaletto

With Ontario no longer administering first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to an increased risk of blood clots, the Ford government says a new shipment of around 250,000 doses will be allocated for people that need a second shot.

The province updated its vaccine rollout on Wednesday.

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams said the decision to no longer administer first doses of AstraZeneca was made as larger shipments of other vaccines – such as Pfizer and Moderna – come into the province, adding that those who received the first shot could be eligible to get a different vaccine for their required second dose.

Health Minister Christine Elliott, who received a first dose of the AstraZeneca shot herself, moved to reassure people who got that vaccine that they had made the right decision to get immunized.

“Those of you who received your first dose of AstraZeneca did the right thing to protect yourselves, your loved ones, and your communities,” said Elliott on Wednesday.

“Vaccines remain our best defense against this virus, and our way out of this pandemic.”

According to Ontario’s latest data on AstraZeneca shots and the side effect known as VITT, as of May 8, the rate of the blood clotting syndrome developing in people was between 0.9 and 1 per 100,000 doses.

But in the last few days, Elliott says that the rate of VITT increased to 1.7 per 100,000 doses administered.

However, recent data from the UK “points to a significantly reduced risk of VITT in second doses of AstraZeneca” and the province continues to consider different options for the use of the vaccine for people awaiting their second shot, with Elliott saying guidance is expected shortly.

The data suggests the risk of blood clots after the second dose of AstraZeneca is 1 in 1 million.

Elliott also acknowledged that Ontario has around 50,000 doses of AstraZeneca that will expire if it’s not administered soon, meaning health officials could opt to administer those leftover shots to people awaiting a second dose so they aren’t wasted.

“We don’t expect that there will be any, or perhaps just a few doses, that may expire,” Health Minister Elliott said.

“However, this is out of an abundance of caution, because the safety and well-being of the people of Ontario has to be our top priority.”

Ontario has signalled it will likely mix COVID-19 vaccine brands as the country prepares for a flood of Pfizer and Moderna shots with Elliott noting “early promising results” of mixing multiple vaccines.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who also received the AstraZeneca shot, said the province needs to begin planning how it might use the doses it expects to receive to avoid slowing down Ontario’s vaccine effort.

“At the very least, the Minister of Health and the government should be planning for a green light … to get those shots into people’s arms,” she said.

The blood clotting syndrome linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine is extremely rare but can be fatal.

In Canada, at least 12 cases have been confirmed out of more than two million doses given and three women have died.

Ontario’s vaccine effort had been criticized initially for a slow and bumpy start. The rollout has ramped up in recent weeks and the government said Wednesday that half of the province’s adults have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Ontario reported 2,320 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday and 32 more deaths from the virus. The data is based on 45,681 tests.


With files from the Canadian Press

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