Alberta stops administering first doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine due to supply issues - CBC.ca

Alberta Health says the province has stopped administering first doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine in favour of other brands because supply of the vaccine is expected to become scarce. .

Alberta's existing supply of AstraZeneca will be used as second doses, the provincial health department confirmed on Tuesday. .

Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said it's unclear when Alberta will get additional shipments of AstraZeneca, and that lack of supply prompted provincial health officials to alter the immunization strategy.

"That's why we are making the prudent move – saving the remaining 8,000 doses for those who have a contraindication to an mRNA vaccine, or for second doses." .

Alberta has administered roughly 255,000 first doses of AstraZeneca and 2,200 second doses, Alberta Health said in a statement to CBC News on Tuesday. .

More than 318,841 Albertans have been fully immunized with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Use of the AstraZeneca vaccine has been under added scrutiny in recent weeks, particularly after Canada's panel of vaccine experts recommended that people who aren't at high risk of contracting COVID-19 may want to wait to get a dose of the Pfizer or Moderna.

The AstraZeneca vaccine has been linked to vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), an extremely rare blood clot disorder. To date, Alberta has reported two cases of VITT and one death.

The currently reported frequency of blood clots from the AstraZeneca vaccine ranges from one in 25,000 doses in Norway to one in one million doses in the U.K., Alberta Health said.