The province will continue to use the AstraZeneca vaccine for people between the ages of 60 and 64.
Recent guidelines from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, NACI, say the vaccine should not be offered to people under the age of 55 after reports from Europe it may be connected to a serious risk of blood clots.
Dr. Robert Strang, our province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, says the danger seems to be largely for women under 55, and may be associated with hormone chemistry in that group.
He says they will not stop offering the vaccine to people between 60 and 64, and 55 to 59 when everyone in the older group has had a chance to be vaccinated.
Dr. Strang says part of it is risk versus benefit.
“55 and above, it seems that there’s a much lower risk of this, it’s a very specific type of blood clotting, it seems like there’s much lower risk of that happening,” he says. “And the risk of getting serious outcomes from a COVID-19 infection starts to substantially increase.”
He says the country’s Chief Medical Officers of Health are very confident the risk of an infection outweighs the risk of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over the age of 55.
Dr. Strang says they will not be offering the vaccine to people 65 and older, however.
He says that’s not based on risk from the AstraZeneca vaccine, but on an already existing recommendation from NACI that people over 65 should receive an MRNA vaccine, like those made by Pfizer and Moderna.
“Simply because of the increased risk of severe outcomes as you go 65 and above, and start to get older, and the evidence of increased effectiveness from MRNA vaccines.”
Dr. Strang also announced three new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday.
He reported one travel related case in Eastern Zone, one in a close contact of a previously reported case in Central Zone, and another under investigation in Northern Zone.
Dr. Strang says there are 24 active infections in the province and one person remains in hospital.
