AstraZeneca recipients hunt for doses as Manitoba gives up claim to thousands of shots

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This article was published 01/06/2021 (1918 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba has given up its claim to 23,000 AstraZeneca doses.

A spokesman for the provincial government confirmed Tuesday the doses had been relinquished because “mRNA vaccine is now widely available and is clinically preferable as announced on Monday.”

Manitoba was to receive the delivery two weeks ago, but asked the federal government to hold off while the vaccine task force deliberated about what to do with the shots.

The province estimates there are fewer than 3,700 AstraZeneca doses currently with pharmacists and medical clinics in Manitoba. At least 75,000 Manitobans have received the AstraZeneca shot.

On Monday, Dr. Joss Reimer, medical lead for the COVID-19 vaccine task force, announced that Manitoba decided to recommend people who received AstraZeneca for their first dose take either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccine for their second shot. However, the task force co-lead said the province would maintain a small inventory of vaccines for people who choose to receive AstraZeneca.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization made a similar recommendation on Tuesday, stating that people who received a first dose of AstraZeneca may receive either the AstraZeneca shot or one of the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna) for their second dose, unless contraindicated. The national committee noted that mRNA and AstraZeneca vaccines are both available in Canada and there will be sufficient supply of both types of vaccine to provide second doses.

“Getting the same vaccine for the first and second dose, or a mixed schedule, are both considered valid options, and both will count as a completed series,” the national committee said in a statement. “Individuals should consider talking to a health-care professional for help with understanding information to support informed individual decision-making on vaccination.”

However, AstraZeneca recipients in Manitoba who want to stick with the same brand for their second dose, will have to hunt for it.

As of Tuesday, the province’s online vaccine finder did not list which vaccines are available at pharmacies and clinics in Manitoba, some of which have been given Moderna doses.

The Free Press spoke with multiple Winnipeggers who were vaccinated with AstraZeneca, who say they have been left in limbo. Meanwhile, the pharmacy and clinic locations they’ve reached out to do not have AstraZeneca supply.

The AstraZeneca recipients, who asked that their names not be published, also said they continue to have questions about the province’s strategy to recommend the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna mRNA vaccine for their booster shot, but feel they have few resources to make an informed decision.

In Saskatchewan, the provincial health authority said it will establish clinics to offer second AstraZeneca shots exclusively as of June 7, following government eligibility criteria.

People in that province can choose to wait 12 weeks to receive their second shot, though the vaccine type available at that time will depend on supply.

In Manitoba, a government spokesperson said it remains up to Manitobans to find out where they can get an AstraZeneca shot.

“Individuals wishing their second dose to be AstraZeneca have the option of reaching out directly to the original provider of the first dose,” a spokesman said in a statement.

When asked what would happen if the province’s AstraZeneca vaccine supply is exhausted and demand for second doses of the product persists, the spokesman said Pfizer and Moderna shots are preferred.

The Public Health Agency of Canada estimates the rate of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, a blood-clotting condition associated with viral vector vaccines such as AstraZeneca, to be one in 83,000 doses administered in Canada, but it could be as high as one in 55,000.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca