The latest change to age eligibility for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine in Canada may not make much of a difference to Saskatchewan’s rollout right now.
On Friday, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommended that doses of AstraZeneca be offered to anyone over the age of 30. It previously had suggested that vaccine only be given to people over the age of 55 due to concerns about blood clots.
Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Health responded to Friday’s new recommendations by saying it’s going to review them before making any changes to its current plan.
The ministry noted the province already lowered its age restrictions for AstraZeneca to 40 on Tuesday, but added its supply of that vaccine already has been allocated for use.
On Feb. 26, Health Canada approved AstraZeneca for use on everyone aged 18 and over, but NACI recommended March 29 that the vaccine should only be given to people 55 and over.
Facing rising case numbers, however, some provinces decided to overlook that recommendation. Like Saskatchewan, Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec lowered the age of eligibility earlier this week.
Saskatchewan was using AstraZeneca at some of its drive-through clinics, but shifted to Pfizer due to the 55-and-over barrier on AstraZeneca. The government then started putting AstraZeneca into its mass immunization clinics.