Eligibility criteria to receive a vaccine in Manitoba has been expanded.
Medical Lead on the Vaccination Task Force Dr. Joss Reimer states that Manitobans 59-and-older, and First Nations 39-and-older, can now make an appointment for a vaccine.
This week, Manitoba is expecting a shipment of 28-thousand 400 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
Over 55-thousand doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine has been distributed to pharmacies and medical clinics across Manitoba.
Reimer reminds Manitobans of the eligibility criteria for the Astra-Zeneca vaccine.
“This vaccine is for people who are age 55-64, who have a health or medical condition that puts them at more serious risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19,” she said.
A complete list of prioritized conditions is available here.
Continued watch of reports of blood clotting after receiving AstraZeneca vaccine
Manitoba continues to keep their eye on the developing situation surrounding reports of blood clots developing because of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
There has been one case of this reported in Canada, specifically in Quebec, however, the individual is recovering at home, according to Health Canada’s Dr. Supriya Sharma.
Reimer acknowledged the report, and said this shows that the vaccine safety monitoring system is working extremely well.
“Because like what we saw in Europe, we’re able to find cases of this despite how incredibly rare it is. Based on all of the evidence available internationally to date, we continue to believe that the benefits of AstraZeneca to protect against COVID-19 far outweigh the risks associated with it.” Reimer added.
Both Sharma and Reimer said the risk of blood clots associated with the Astra-Zeneca vaccine is four people out of 1-million.
Sharma got the figure from data collected in the United Kingdom, and like Reimer, said the adverse effects from the vaccine are still extremely rare.
“By the end of March, more than 20-million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been given in the U.K. The U.K. regulator, known as the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency), have received 79 reports of blood clotting cases with low blood platelets following vaccination.
This means that based on reports, approximately 4 in a million or 1 in 250-thousand people who received the vaccine reported this rare side effect.” Sharma explained.
Internationally, Denmark became the first country to stop using AstraZeneca altogether over the blood clotting concerns, after reports of two Danish residents experiencing severe blood clots, one of them fatal.
