New modeling suggests if 75 per cent of Canadians receive at least one shot public health restrictions could start to ease by the summer and Hajdu said vaccine supply can easily meet that demand.
THUNDER BAY – Federal Minister of Health Patty Hajdu received her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday and she hopes Canadians will follow suit, with new modeling numbers showing if 75 per cent of the population receives that first needle, restrictions could start to ease by the summer.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was made available to Canadians over the age of 40 earlier this week. There have been concerns expressed regarding the vaccine and a very rare risk of blood clots. The first case of a blood clot associated with the vaccine in Ontario was confirmed on Friday.
Hajdu said the risk of catching COVID-19 and spreading it in the community far exceeds any associated side effects of the vaccines.
“They are all approved for use in Canada and they are safe and effective,” she said. “They stop people from getting seriously ill from COVID and they help to stop the spread in communities. That is the two goals of vaccinations.”
Health care professionals agree that the risk of blood clotting is very rare and Hajdu said all licenced vaccines being administered in Canada go through a rigorous assessment process.
“There’s a lot of work happening in this space obviously because vaccination is such an important tool and we want to make sure they are safe and they are effective,” she said. “We are a gold standard regulator, which means other countries look to our approvals of evidence of safety.”
Hajdu added it is normal to have questions regarding vaccinations and she encourages anyone who is uncertain about any potential side effects to contact their health care provider or pharmacist.
There have been more than 11.4 million vaccine doses administered in Canada as of Friday. Chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said new modelling suggests that if 75 per cent of Canadians receive the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of June public health restrictions could start to ease this summer.
According Hajdu, COVID-19 vaccine supply in Canada is capable of meeting that target and the federal government is looking at accelerating supply to get people fully vaccinated.
“Our projection is we are going to get 48 million doses in by the end of quarter two, which would be the end of June, and that would be sufficient to have every Canadian in the country vaccinated with at least one dose prior to the end of June,” she said.
Hajdu added Canada was to procure six million doses by the end of the first quarter and that number reached 9.5 million doses.
“Pfizer has been a tremendously stable partner and we have delivery schedules right up to the end of May that are very solid,” she said. “We have other manufactures who have schedules as well so we anticipate we will be able to meet those targets.”
And while that will bring Canada to the beginning of summer, the federal government is also looking far ahead into the future. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Friday that the federal government has reached a deal with Pfizer to secure 35 million booster shots for next year and 30 million doses for the year after.
Hajdu said the deal is meant to ensure Canada is ready and some research suggests that people around the world could be living with COVID-19 for years to come.
“That is certainly what some of the researchers and scientists are suggesting, that we may be living with COVID for a long time and we may need some type of booster shot on an annual basis or semi-annual basis, depending on how the virus changes and adapts to the human species,” Hajdu said.
And while not every Canadian is being vaccinated with the Pfizer brand and there is still ongoing research into whether or not different vaccines can be matched to another. But Hajdu said it will likely be similar to the flu shot after the initial immunizations are complete.
“The research isn’t concluded on whether or not we can mix and match different kinds of vaccinations for the initial vaccination,” she said.
“But I think just like for the flu shot, there may be a scenario where regardless of the type of vaccination you receive for the initial vaccination, there may be different pharmaceutical manufacturer of booster shots. The order is placed to be absolutely safe, that we have an order in should boosters become necessary.”
source tbnewswatch