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Ontario has obtained permission from Health Canada to extend the expiration date of certain doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine to Saturday, thereby preventing thousands of injection needles from being wasted.
A spokesperson for Health Secretary Christine Elliott said the change means that the dose originally scheduled to expire on May 31 can now be used until July 1.
Alexandra Hilkene said in a statement: “Health Canada has approved the extension of the validity period of a specific batch of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine from six months to seven months. “.
In order to avoid wasting doses, this weekend, the province’s pharmacies and physician offices have been eager to manage thousands of injections before the due date last Monday.
Ontario has been trying to reallocate its inventory of 45,000 photos, which expired on May 31, and there were 10,000 bad debts in June.
But quality checks prevented the delivery of thousands of photos, and many did not reach their final destination until Friday.
Watch | Health Canada has extended the expiration date of thousands of AstraZeneca doses:
The head of the Ontario Association of Pharmacists said that Health Canada’s decision is not unprecedented when it comes to the continuous development of data related to new vaccines.
Justin Bates said: “This is good news.” “Although I appreciate it, this will raise more questions… so that people can continue to make informed consent decisions.”
Bates said that pharmacies in different parts of Ontario have stepped up their efforts to throw pills into weapons to avoid wasting any doses, and these efforts will continue.
“It does provide us with a longer runway and reduces the risk of any accidents. [waste], I think this is a good thing, and this is the silver lining in all of this. “He says.
Bioethicists say “I won’t worry” the expiration
Kerry Bowman, a bioethicist at the University of Toronto, also welcomed the news in an interview with Natasha Fatah of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) on Saturday.
Bowman said: “The fact that there is no waste is very important.”
He said that although the validity period is likely to “get the attention of a lot of people,” he said that extra care should be taken when setting the original validity period.
Bowman said: “I don’t have to worry at all.”
Due to increased reports of rare but deadly blood clots, the province suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this month.
Although uncommon, vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) is much more serious than a typical blood clot because it causes cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), blocking the veins that drain blood from the brain and May cause fatal bleeding.
Recently, a research team in Germany Proposed potential solutions for prevention VITT and helping laboratories modified AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to improve safety and possibly promote global vaccination efforts. But experts warn that it is too early to draw definitive conclusions on the theory.
Ontario began to provide the AstraZeneca vaccine again this week as the second injection for people who received the vaccine in Toronto, Windsor and Kingston pharmacies and some primary care offices between March 10 and March 19 .
Between March 10 and March 19, approximately 90,000 people participated in AstraZeneca’s pilot activities.
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