Canadian Committee On Immunization Recommends Pause On AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine For People Younger Than 55 Years

In a new development, Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization is said to have recommended pausing the use of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines for inoculating people aged under 55 years citing safety concerns, reports Hindustan Times.

It should be noted that the recommendation is not binding, and it is up to each province of Canada to decide to abide by it or not.

Speaking on the development, Dr Joss Reimer of Manitoba province’s Vaccine Implementation Task Force stressed that despite the finding that there was no increased risk of blood clots overall related to AstraZeneca in Europe, a rare but very serious side effect has been seen primarily in young women in Europe.

Dr Reimer added, "So out of abundance of caution, Manitoba will be recommending that these vaccines only be used in people who are 55 or older at this time. I do want to say this is a pause while we wait for more information to better understand what we are seeing in Europe."

She added that the increase in the rare type of blood clot that happens affects somewhere around one in 100,000 or one in a million people who receive AstraZeneca.

Dr Reimer also added, "While we still believe the benefits for all ages outweigh the risks I’m not comfortable with probably. I want to see more data coming out of Europe so I know exactly what this risk-benefit analysis is."

Meanwhile, Ontario, Canada's most populous province will also be going for a pause on the vaccine usage for people under 55 years of age.