Canada will not follow the path of Denmark, which on Wednesday abandoned AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday due to very rare cases of blood clots.
However, Health Canada has updated the warnings on the AstraZeneca and Covishield vaccine labels to inform citizens and healthcare professionals of possible side effects.
At a press conference, Dr Marc Berthiaume noted that Health Canada has not found any particular risk factors, such as age or sex, for these very rare blood clots. Therefore, its use is not restricted to certain populations.
A very low risk
The federal agency still considers the risk of these blood clots to be very low and that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its potential disadvantages. For its part, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) will review the available data and determine whether or not to change its recommendation not to administer the vaccine to people under 55 years of age.
It should be remembered that a first case of thrombocytopenia with thrombosis occurred in Quebec following the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine. This is the only case identified in Canada to date.
Denmark on Wednesday became the first European country to abandon the use of the vaccine, despite favorable opinions for its use from the European regulator and the World Health Organization (WHO). After two serious cases, one of which was fatal, of blood clots in people who received a first injection, the Nordic country had already, the first, entirely suspended the use of the vaccine on March 11.
There have been very rare cases of blood clots associated with low platelet count following administration of AstraZeneca vaccine. According to the UK regulatory authority, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, one in 250,000 people have reported this side effect.
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