New Brunswick To Use AstraZeneca Vaccine For Second Doses Only
FREDERICTON – Following two new cases of blood clots caused by adverse effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine, New Brunswick has decided to no longer use it for first doses. The province will, however, continue using AstraZeneca for a second dose. Other provinces across Canada have taken similar steps following cases of blood clots. Under certain circumstances, some residents can still receive the first dose of AstraZeneca.
In a tweet following the press conference, Education Minister Dominic Cardy claimed that they made this decision over concerns of supply issues, indicating it wasn’t due to concerns over blood clots.
“That’s only because of supply. We’re not changing our rules around AZ other than that. If the science changes we’ll listen but AZ is an important part of our fight against COVID. Speed counts. Vaccines vs variants,” tweeted Cardy.
The new cases involve two New Brunswickers in their 50s; one is still in hospital and the other one has already recovered. Earlier in May, one New Brunswicker died after getting a blood clot caused by the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Dr. Jennifer Russell, Chief Medical Officer for New Brunswick, described this rare condition as a “vaccine-induced immune response that causes blood clots.”
Dr. Russell believes there’s little risk of using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for second doses. She said the chances of developing a blood clot from a second dose as, literally, one in a million.
New Brunswick is due to receive 13,500 doses of AstraZeneca from the federal government on the May 17th weekend.
Today, New Brunswick is reporting 16 new cases of Covid-19 throughout the province. One of these cases occurred outside of New Brunswick, and 10 have been reported in the Fredericton zone. The government has identified 24 possible exposure sites in Fredericton, and the cases are linked to the India variant of Covid-19. There are currently 10 people cross New Brunswick in hospital because of Covid-19.
The Covid-19 outbreak in Fredericton has, unfortunately, affected three schools in the city. Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Dominic Cardy said there were two confirmed cases at Leo Hayes High School, and one confirmed case at Nashwaaksis Middle School. Both schools were closed today. The Minister also reported a possible exposure case in New Maryland Elementary School, but that school remains open.
Dr. Russell praised the fact that New Brunswickers are quickly getting vaccinated. She reported 300,000 people have received at least one dose of vaccine and more than 31,000 have booked their appointment in the past week.
“We’ve also been able to accelerate our campaign, because our stock of vaccine supplies from the federal government has been growing steadily over the past several weeks, and we are on track to achieve our goal of providing the first dose to every New Brunswicker before Canada Day,” said Dr. Russell.
Dr. Russell pleaded with the public to not take their frustrations with the pandemic on the hardworking nurses and frontline staff. She asked everyone to show empathy and understanding towards one another during these exhausting times.
“I ask that you treat our public health nurses and contact tracing staff with respect,” she said. “We’re all human here; we’ve all been working at this for over a year. We’re all doing our best to protect our entire population and the healthcare system.”
“Under no circumstance should any of our staff be subjected to verbal abuse. If you have challenges, there are other ways to express that.”
A report also came out Thursday that Premier Blaine Higgs would like to see the Atlantic Bubble open again on July 1. When asked about this target date, Dr. Russell said it’s too early to tell what might happen with the pandemic a few months from now.
“I think these targets are always moving targets based on our epidemiology,” said Dr. Russell. “It’s really unpredictable at this point to be able say what will be possible. We have to wait and see what happens in Nova Scotia around their case numbers and, obviously, we have an evolving situation here in Zone 3 (Fredericton area).”