Canada Recommends AstraZeneca-Oxford Vaccine for Seniors

Canada has departed from its original guidelines by recommending the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for people older than 65, reports Al Jazeera . The government's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) had previously advised against the vaccine "due to limited information on its efficacy." But the NACI said this week that it changed its policy reviewing "real-world effectiveness studies." The recommendation still supports prioritizing Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for older populations. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday aimed to reassure residents that the AstraZeneca vaccine is safe after Germany, France, Italy, and Spain joined other nations in suspending its use. In response, AstraZeneca said it had reviewed the data on 17 million people who received doses across Europe and found 37 cases of that developed blood clots as of March 8. The company said there was "no evidence of an increased risk" of clots in any age group or gender, adding that "this is much lower than would be expected to occur naturally in a general population of this size and is similar across other licensed COVID-19 vaccines."