ONTARIO – The province of Ontario has lowered the eligibility age for those who wish to get the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from 55 to 40 and above.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is only available through pharmacies and other primary medical care settings.
“As we continue to fight COVID-19, we are doing everything possible to get as many vaccines into arms as quickly and safely as possible. We continue to be actively engaged with Health Canada on updated AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine safety. Last week, based on the review of available data from Europe and United Kingdom, Health Canada announced that it was not restricting the use of AstraZeneca vaccine in any specific populations at this time,” reads a statement from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams.
There has been some international concern that the AstraZeneca vaccine may be linked to the formation of blood clots in women, but the chances of this are relatively low. According to research done by the Toronto Star instances of blood clots in Canada related to the COVID-19 vaccine are about one in every 250,000 doses.
“The health and safety of Ontarians is always our top priority, and for that reason, only COVID-19 vaccines that Health Canada determines to be safe and effective are approved for use in Ontario. All COVID-19 vaccines available in Ontario have been shown to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death. Adverse reactions are extremely rare. We strongly recommend that everyone book their appointment as soon as they are eligible,” Dr. Willams’ statement goes on to read. “Ontario has administered over 3.86 million doses of the vaccine to Ontarians to date, and all of our partners and health care workers are continuing to work hard to administer doses as quickly as possible to Ontarians.”
