TORONTO — Canada’s largest province said Tuesday it will stop giving out first doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine due to concerns over its link to rare blood clots.
Ontario’s chief medical officer for health, Dr. David Williams, said the decision was made out of an abundance of caution because of increased instances of the rare blood clotting disorder linked to the shot.
AstraZeneca is restricted in some European countries because of a potential link to extremely rare blood clots.
In Canada, at least 12 cases have been confirmed out of more than 2 million doses given, and three women have died.
Alberta is also no longer administrating first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine but only because of a lack of supply.
Pfizer and Moderna are sending more than enough doses to vaccinate every Canadian with two doses eventually.
Ontario said it has 49,280 doses of the AstraZeneca shot remaining in the province out of over 707,000 received.
Health officials are awaiting results of a clinical trial in the United Kingdom looking at giving a different vaccine for the second dose. That would allow people who got AstraZeneca first to be given Pfizer or Moderna for their second dose.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said almost 50% of eligible adults in Canada have received at least one shot of a coronavirus vaccine. Most of that is Pfizer.
Trudeau said by the summer, Canada will have enough vaccines so that every eligible resident will have gotten their first dose and by September it will have enough doses for everyone to be fully vaccinated.
“A one-dose summer sets us up for a two-dose fall when we’ll be able to talk about going back to school, back to work, and back to more normality,” Trudeau said.
Canada has lagged in vaccinating its population because it lacks the ability to manufacture the vaccines and like many countries has had to rely on the global supply chain for the shots. Trudeau’s government bet on seven different vaccines manufactured elsewhere and secured advance purchase agreements — enough to get 10 doses for each Canadian. Regulators have approved the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
But initial supply chain difficulties forced Canada to extend the time between the first shot and the second by up to four months so that everyone can be protected faster with the initial dose. The hope is to get all adults at least one shot by the end of June. About 3% of eligible Canadians are fully vaccinated.
