Boxes with some of the first 500,000 of the two million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine (COVID-19) that Canada provided through an agreement with the Serum Institute of India in partnership with Verity Pharma at a Milton facility, Ontario, Canada March 3, 2021. REUTERS / Carlos Osorio
The Canadian province of Ontario will begin offering the COVID-19 AstraZeneca (AZN.L) vaccine on Tuesday to people 40 years of age or older this year, according to a government source.
The change will widen access to vaccines, as a third wave of infections threatens to overwhelm hospitals in Canada’s most populous province and should make it easier to use doses that, in some cases, have accumulated at pharmacies.
The change will be announced on Monday and will take effect across the province on Tuesday, according to the source. The vaccine has already been distributed in pharmacies, but currently can only be given to people 55 years of age or older.
Ontario on Friday announced new public health measures, promising provincial border checkpoints, new police powers and the closure of outdoor facilities, while leaving many jobs open. The measures have been widely criticized by doctors and public health experts, and the province has quickly reopened playgrounds and changed the new police powers.
On March 29, Health Canada said it would review reports of severe blood clots and bleeding in a small number of people receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in other countries, and an independent group called the National Immunization Advisory Council (NACI) recommended that given only to persons 55 years of age and over. All provinces have followed this advice.
But NACI recommendations are not binding. Last week, Health Canada, the country’s drug regulator, said it had looked at all available evidence and would not restrict the use of the vaccine as its benefits outweigh the potential risks. Health Canada said at the time that NACI was reviewing its recommendations.
On Sunday, the NACI president told Reuters that the group will make a new recommendation on Tuesday.
Health Canada said regulators in the UK estimated the risk of clots to be very low, about four out of a million people receiving the vaccine. He also said the complication is treatable. Two people developed it in Canada and both are recovering.
Several other countries have limited the use of the vaccine to the elderly. Denmark withdrew the blow, and Norway said on Thursday it would take longer 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 intensive care to 737.
Health Canada says vaccine recipients should seek medical attention immediately if they have difficulty breathing, chest pain, swelling in the legs, persistent abdominal pain, neurological symptoms such as severe headache or blurred vision or bruising of the skin, or small bloodstains under the skin beyond the injection site.
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