Boxes of some of the first 500,000 of the 2 million AstraZeneca coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine doses that Canada has obtained through a deal with the Serum Institute of India in partnership with Verity Pharma at a facility in Milton, Ontario, Canada March 3, 2021 REUTERS / Carlos Osorio
According to a government source, the Canadian province of Ontario will begin offering AstraZeneca’s (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine to people who turn 40 or older this year on Tuesday.
The change will broaden access to vaccines as a third wave of infections threatens to overwhelm hospitals in Canada’s most populous province, and it should make it easier to use doses that have accumulated at pharmacies in some cases.
The change will be announced Monday and will go into effect throughout the province on Tuesday, the source said. The vaccine has already been distributed to pharmacies, but can currently only be given to people who turn 55 or older this year.
Ontario announced new public health measures on Friday, with promising checkpoints at provincial borders, new police powers and closing of outdoor facilities, while many workplaces remained open. The measures received widespread criticism from doctors and public health experts, and the county quickly reopened playgrounds and changed new police powers.
On March 29, Health Canada said it would review reports of serious blood clots and bleeding in a small number of people who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine in other countries, and an independent panel, the National Advisory Council on Immunization (NACI), recommended that only are given to people aged 55 and over. All provinces have followed that advice.
But the NACI’s recommendations are not binding. Last week, Health Canada, the country’s drug regulator, said it had reviewed all available evidence and would not limit use of the vaccine because the benefits outweigh the potential risks. Health Canada said at the time that NACI was reviewing its recommendations.
On Sunday, the chairman of the NACI told Reuters that the panel would make a new recommendation on Tuesday.
Health Canada said regulators in the UK estimated the risk of blood clots to be very low, about four in a million people who receive the vaccine. It also said the complication was treatable. Two people developed it in Canada and both are recovering.
Several other countries have limited the use of the vaccine to older people. Denmark withdrew the shot, and Norway said on Thursday it would take more time to decide whether to resume use.
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 ICUs to 737.
Health Canada says those receiving the vaccine should seek immediate medical attention if they experience shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling, persistent abdominal pain, neurological symptoms such as severe headache or blurred vision, or bruising on the skin or small patches of blood underneath. experience the skin outside. the injection site.
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