Astrazeneca recipients have no regrets

Nova Scotia won't be putting Astrazeneca into anybody else's arms any time soon, if ever.

The province paused its use Wednesday for two reasons: the very rare cases of brain blood clots that have been linked to the vaccine and the fact we now have plenty of the MRNA vaccines Pfizer and Moderna that haven't resulted in any major side-effects.

Lorna Rowan-legg got her shot of Astrazeneca on May 1 at a Halifax pharmacy. Even if its use hadn't been curtailed, she wouldn't be planning a second shot.

“Two days after receiving my shot, I woke up to find my arm was red and very warm, and hard and very, very painful,” she recounted in a video interview Thursday. “Which was not fun at all.”

The reaction continued for two days and seemed to be getting worse so Rowan-legg contacted her doctor, who not surprisingly told her she shouldn't get Astrazeneca for her second shot.

Regardless she said she "definitely" doesn't regret getting the AZ shot.

“At least I have one dose that's going to protect me to a point. I do know several other people who had similar reactions to me, some worse than mine, some less, but ... we've never done this before so how do we know what's going to happen?”

Injection site reactions aren't unusual with any type of vaccine and Rowan-legg noted most drugs have side-effects.

She plans to get a second shot of either Moderna or Pfizer whenever those appointments become available.

Besides Rowan-legg, Paul Morris of Bedford is one of more than 57,000 Nova Scotians who've received an Astrazeneca shot. As somebody who closely tracks COVID-19 and vaccine information, Morris said he knew about the blood-clotting risk with Astrazeneca and that clinical trials of Pfizer and Moderna showed a higher efficacy rate.

“So why did I take the risk?” he said in a phone interview

Thursday. “It was because I had a five- to six-week waiting time for an MRNA vaccine by the time they might hit my age group with no guarantee that they would hit my age group . ...

“To have remorse about getting a vaccine is like having remorse about buying insurance for your car. When the policy expires do you say, I wish I had crashed it, right? So I knew what I was getting.”

RISKS AND BENEFITS

At a news briefing Wednesday, Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of health, said the pause on Astrazeneca was prompted by “caution, science and the availability of alternative MRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.”

The pause will continue until further recommendations on Astrazeneca are received from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization.

Asked later what he would say to the people who have already received an Astrazeneca and might be nervous given the pause, Strang said public health has made sure people were told about the risks and benefits of the various vaccines.

“We've been very clear that Astrazeneca has some unique risks to it and we made sure Nova Scotians were given that information and allowed to make a choice.”

But what some people consider to be mixed messages irked some on social media.

“I don't have much to say other than I'm disillusioned with all of this and I have significantly less trust now in my provincial leadership,” said @SEAN_GMC in a tweet. “Also Strang's comment was gaslighting at most and offensive at least. Province should have had a plan already in place for us.”

Another commenter agreed.

“I think that sums up my feelings as well. These last two weeks have been a real hiccup in our leadership during this pandemic that I do not think we have seen since it began.”

But others said they'd be open to another Astrazeneca shot if it's put back into the mix: “Had AZ shot last week of March. Will take whatever is offered for second dose.”

Melanie Sue Ellis tweeted she was “still very happy and thankful” she got the Astrazeneca shot. “Knowing I did the right thing in the moment.”