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Health Canada is extending the shelf life of some 49,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
In a statement Saturday, the health organization said it was extending the expiry dates of the lots (MT0055 and MT0056) by 30 days. Rather than Monday, the doses now will be good until July 1.
“The approval to extend the shelf life was supported by scientific evidence,” Health Canada said in the statement.
It’s unknown how many doses from those lots are in Saskatchewan.
Health Canada previously approved a shelf life of six months for the AstraZeneca vaccine, but the manufacturer made a submission Thursday asking for an extension.
In Saturday’s statement, Health Canada said the request from AstraZeneca “included product stability and mathematical modelling data that demonstrated that the quality, safety and efficacy of the two lots would be maintained for an extra month, for a total of up to seven months.”
“This change will ensure that provinces and territories are able to use up their existing inventory and provide Canadians access to much-needed doses of the vaccine,” Health Canada said.
Saskatchewan currently is using AstraZeneca only as second shots for those who received that vaccine as a first dose.
Health officials have said around 73,000 Saskatchewan residents got AstraZeneca in the first go-round. The province estimates it currently has around 20,000 doses to use for second shots.
That has created some uncertainty for people who got that drug as a first shot, given the province doesn’t have enough for all of the individuals who received AstraZeneca.
The provincial government has suggested those people could get Pfizer as a second dose, but it also has said that anyone who got AstraZeneca the first time around will get that vaccine as a second dose as well.
The government has said that vaccine is most effective when a second dose is given 12 weeks after the first.
Currently in Saskatchewan, only those 85 and over are eligible for a second AstraZeneca shot, as are cancer patients and solid organ transplant patients who receive a letter of eligibility.
— With files from The Canadian Press