Canada suspends use of AstraZeneca vaccine for people aged under 55

Canada on Monday suspended the use of Oxford’s co-manufactured AstraZeneca vaccine for people under the age of 55 over the reports of ‘blood clots’. Canada’s  National Advisory Committee on Immunization issued an advisory asking the government to halt the vaccination campaign amid mounting safety concerns, citing that the risks of blood clots from AstraZeneca jab saying that the blood clot cases were now potentially as high as one in 100,000. This comes as Europe had earlier halted the use of AstraZeneca over similar reports of rare blood clots developing among one in million, although the fatality rate spiked to 40 percent in those that administered the vaccine. 

In a statement to Canadian local press CTV, Dr. Joss Reimer of Manitoba’s Vaccine Implementation Task Force told reporters that there was substantial uncertainty about the jab for the adults under 55 of age and therefore the NACI had advised to suspension pending further investigation on the cases of vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT), as were seen in Europe. 

Canada conducts risk-benefit analysis

At a press briefing, deputy chief public health officer at the Public Health Agency of Canada, Dr. Howard Njoo, said: “We are taking this precautionary measure while Health Canada as the regulator completes its updated risk-benefit analysis based on emerging data.” The guidance was enforced across several Canadian states including Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick. Canada’s Prince Edward Island, meanwhile, separately banned AstraZeneca for anyone aged between 18 and 29. The vaccine was now being administered to only those aged between 60 and 64.

Earlier, dismissing the reports of blood clotting, AstraZeneca said in a statement that its jab AZD1222  has demonstrated 100 percent efficacy against the severe COVID-19 infection and hospitalization. The pharmaceutical company claimed that the US-led clinical trials on 32,000 participants in Chile and Peru also reaffirmed that the vaccine was safe and was “not associated with an increase in the overall risk of blood clots [thromboembolic events]. 

“Today the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) reaffirmed the benefits of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca continue to far outweigh the risks,” AstraZeneca said in a press release.

(Image Credit: AP)