Canadian health authorities will add a warning about extremely rare cases of blood clots on its monograph for the AstraZeneca vaccine, but they continue to say this COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for people over the age of 18.
The European Medicines Agency has said there is not an overall increase in the risk of having blood clots after receiving this vaccine, but it and Health Canada continue to analyse data to see if there is any causal link between it and the few reported cases of blood clots in the brain. Canadian authorities will likely add a warning that people should seek medical help if, after being vaccinated, they suffer severe or persistent headaches, shortness of breath or pain in the legs. They add that they have extensively studied the data on the AstraZeneca vaccine and nothing suggests that they should change their recommendation. They will continue to monitor the science on all vaccines as it becomes available.
Some Canadians have been reticent about getting the AstraZeneca vaccine, but authorities continue to say the best vaccine to get is the first one offered. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)
Variant driving an increase in cases
Canada has seen a 15 per cent increase in the number of daily cases of COVID-19 in the past week and increased hospitalizations. This may be partly due to an increase in the cases caused by the U.K. variant which has been found to be more contagious and more deadly than the original virus. This strain now accounts for more than 90 per of cases of new variants in Canada. There have been more cases of infection among young people, possibly because it is seniors that have been first in line to be vaccinated. It will be some months before younger people will be eligible. If the infection rate continues to rise among the young, the chief public health officer says there is likely to be an increase in hospitalizations and intensive care admissions.
Some early data suggested the AstraZeneca vaccine might not be very effective in protecting against the South African variant, but the health minister said that was based on lab results and that real world data suggests it is effective in preventing severe illness and hospitalization. The health officials warned that it was a tight race between getting people vaccinated and the spread of variants. They said people must continue to observe public health measures such as wearing masks, washing hands, keeping a distance of two metres from others and limiting social interactions and travel.
Provincial and territorial authorities decide restrictions
Some provinces have considered or implemented loosened pandemic restrictions. The federal officials refused to be drawn into a discussion of whether they were acting too soon. They emphasized that health care is a provincial and territorial jurisdiction and that it was up to local officials to determine their own situations and the risks and benefits of loosening restrictions.
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