Canada’s vaccine advisory committee is poised to announce that it will start recommending the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for those older than 65 years old, a senior government source tells CTV News.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) is expected to confirm that the AstraZeneca vaccine will now be recommended for people over 65 at a news conference Tuesday morning, the source said.
The federal advisory committee had initially recommended that AstraZeneca only be given to those younger than 65 because there was insufficient data about its efficacy for older people.
Quebec had said that it would nonetheless provide the vaccine to older seniors, while other provinces, including Ontario, said they would only give it to those under 65.
Speaking with CP24 Monday night, federal Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand said the NACI guidance is designed to help provinces make decisions about the rollout, but it is up to the provinces to decide for themselves.
“The NACI guidelines are separate and independent from the work I'm doing and indeed from government,” Anand said. “That's an independent committee that is making recommendations and the provinces and territories can choose to implement those recommendations in any way they choose.”
Ontario Solicitor-General Sylvia Jones also spoke with CP24 Monday night and said Ontario will not likely change the way it is using AstraZeneca while quantities of the vaccine remain low in the province.
Jones and Health Minister Christine Elliott are the co-leads for Ontario’s vaccine rollout.
“We'll look very carefully at the National Advisory Committee on Immunizations recommendations and see if there's an opportunity where we can expand, but frankly we have a very limited supply of AstraZeneca right now and the 60 to 64 age group that we're offering it (to) through vaccines (at) pharmacies and primary care is sufficient at this point,” Jones said. “When we get more supplies, then we can look at expanding the age groups.”
A pilot project launched in Ontario last week to distribute the AstraZeneca vaccine to those under 65 years old through pharmacies in three regions. However pharmacies have already said that they are running out of doses.
Delivery timeline unclear
Canada has pre-ordered 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, but it is not yet clear exactly when those doses will arrive.
“Our procurements of AstraZeneca are from primarily our bilateral contract with the company,” Anand said. “We'll be getting 20 million doses of AstraZeneca from the United States over the second quarter -- that's just before the month of June ends -- and over the third quarter prior to the end of September.”
AstraZeneca has said it has 30 million doses of its vaccine ready to be distributed in the U.S. The vaccine has not been authorized for use there, but the White House has indicated that it will not allow export of its vaccine supplies until every American has had a chance to get a shot. It has been estimated the U.S. could reach that goal sometime this spring, at which point the administration would presumably allow some of the supply to leave the country.
About 500,000 of the 2 million doses ordered from the Serum Institute of India have already arrived in Canada, Anand said.
She said with millions of doses expected to arrive in the country soon, Canada will start seeing a major ramp-up in vaccinations and the goal of offering a vaccine to every Canadian who wants one by September remains “very realistic.”
However she stopped short of saying that the current dosing interval of four months could be shortened or that the September goal could be brought forward.
“It certainly is possible but given the need for caution in a global environment that is incredibly competitive and where supply chains around the world are somewhat volatile – look at our experience earlier in the year when Pfizer decided to retool its plant in Belgium – so my view is that we need to be cautious and what the federal government is going to continue to do is to procure more and more vaccines, accelerate those doses, from one quarter into the next,”Anand said.
NACI Chair Dr. Caroline Quach told The Canadian Press last week that the committee was analyzing new evidence about how well the AstraZeneca vaccine worked in seniors and that it would provide an update soon.
The changing guidance on who should get the shot comes at the same time that federal officials try to reassure Canadians that the vaccine is safe. A number of European countries have recently paused their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns that it may have been linked to some reports of blood clots. Canadian officials have said there’s no evidence to suggest a link so far and have maintained the vaccine is safe.
A statement by the company Monday also said that there is no evidence linking the vaccine to clots so far.
“A careful review of all available safety data of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the European Union (EU) and UK with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca has shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country,” AstraZeneca said in an email to CTV News.
- With files from The Canadian Press and CTV News
