Regina doctor urges people to get AstraZeneca vaccine if eligibility changes

As Saskatchewan ponders lowering the minimum age for the AstraZeneca vaccine, one Regina doctor is asking people to not wait to vaccinate.

Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario already have decided to lower the age limit down from 55 to 40.

“It’s a good move. I have no access to inside information, but I’m anticipating Saskatchewan and probably all the other Canadian provinces will follow suit either (Tuesday or Wednesday),” Dr. Alex Wong said Monday.

Wong also anticipates the National Advisory Committee on Immunization will change its guidance to look like that.
Saskatchewan is currently considering following suit.

Wong said it’s a good thing since most of Canada, outside of the Atlantic provinces, is facing similar challenges.

“We’re all basically dealing with the same dynamics in terms of this third wave driven by huge proportions of variants that the benefits of accessing the first dose of AstraZeneca for all individuals over the age of 40 — and frankly even younger than that — far outweighs the very minimal risk of blood clots,” Wong said.

The AstraZeneca vaccine was used at the drive-through vaccination clinic in Regina until the provincial government decided to put Pfizer into that clinic. That move allowed people under the age of 55 to get their shots at that clinic.

By the time the clinic ran out of vaccine doses Friday, people as young as 46 were eligible to get their shots there.

Wong said he expects demand to be high for the AstraZeneca vaccine because of how large of the drop in eligibility would be and the current situation facing provinces.

“In Ontario now, Critical Care Ontario has just issued guidance to their critical care doctors essentially who lives or who dies,” Wong said. “If you don’t have a 70 per cent chance of surviving an ICU stay, you’re not going to get an ICU bed.

“That is reality now in Canada, which is unbelievable to think we’d actually be here in this situation. Getting the first dose of any vaccine, whether it’s Pfizer or AstraZeneca or Moderna, essentially could save your life if you get COVID.”

Wong admits there have been some challenges when it comes to the messaging about AstraZeneca, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“All of this is just indicative of the fact that our safety and surveillance systems are working and that we’re trying to make the best decisions for everybody,” he said. “So people really do need to go and access whatever vaccine they can as fast as they possibly can.”