Knowledge Base

A good opportunity to talk about AstraZeneca. Public Health was able to extend the availability of AstraZeneca to many people. Many people took the vaccine who were under 40 to protect themselves and their communities. The emergence of knowledge of the side effects; the clotting side effect that we see in a small number of people is very concerning. We received many calls to discuss that issue. This is a rare thing that happened but was detected early though our monitoring methods in many different countries, including Canada. This is a sign that if side effects are found with any of the vaccines, the systems in place are able to respond to it, put a pause on the distribution, reopen or tweak it, and not give vaccines to the most at risk – under 40 for AstraZeneca specifically. The people who received the AstraZeneca shot who are under 40, and are now in the position to receive their 2nd shot are not encouraged to receive the AstraZeneca shot. It’s possible people may be put on a new course – 2 new shots of Pizer or Moderna. People over 40 can still take their 1st and 2nd dose with AstraZeneca.