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Canada halts AstraZeneca shots for under 55 on clot concerns

March 31st, 2021 | Tags:
A healthcare worker administers a Covid-19 vaccine at a Vancouver clinic on March 4. Photo: Jennifer Gauthier/Bloomberg
BLOOMBERG

OTTAWA, CANADA - Health officials in Canada are suspending plans to give AstraZeneca Plc’s Covid-19 vaccine to younger people over concerns it could lead to blood clots in rare circumstances.

Provincial health authorities, including those in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, halted the AstraZeneca shots after the nation’s vaccine advisory committee recommended a pause on administering it to people under 55 years old.

It’s another setback for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s vaccine effort, which is off to the second-slowest start among Group of Seven countries. Canada is due to receive 1.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca shot from the U.S. this week.

Just 1.8% of Canadian residents are fully vaccinated, compared with 15.8% in the U.S., according to Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker. Most of the vaccines distributed so far have been the Pfizer Inc. or Moderna Inc. shots, which were approved by Canadian health authorities months before the AstraZeneca shot.

The suspension comes as new virus cases are on the rise: Canada reported an average of 4,352 new cases a day over the seven days ended March 28, up 23% from the previous week.

British Columbia, which has kept restaurants open for most of the pandemic, announced Monday it would close indoor dining, worship services and most indoor fitness activities for three weeks. Vail Resorts Inc.’s Whistler Blackcomb ski resort will be shut.

“We need a circuit breaker to stop this virus now,” Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, said at a news conference. The region recorded more than 2,500 new cases over the weekend and new variants are on the rise.

In Toronto, Canada’s largest city, officials reported 670 new cases; about a third of them are among those aged 20 to 39, Medical Officer of Health Eileen de Villa said.

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