Eligibility for AstraZeneca vaccine cut to age 40
B.C. will lower the eligible age for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to 40 and target 15 COVID-19 hot spots with the vaccine in order to combat surging cases of the coronavirus that have hospitals across B.C. nearing capacity.
In announcing the change on Monday, the provincial health officer said people 40 and older can now call a pharmacy to book the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has so far been limited to people between the ages of 55-65.
Dr. Bonnie Henry said research has shown that the risk of developing a blood clot associated with the vaccine is four in a million compared to between a 20,000 and 40,000 in a million chance of being hospitalized due to COVID -19.
“So we know the benefits of this vaccine far outweigh the risk of very rare blood clots,” Henry said.
Health Canada has approved the vaccine for people under 55, but the National Advisory Committee on Immunization has recommended the shot be offered only to those 55 and older due to a slightly elevated risk of an extremely rare blood clot disorder. There have been just two cases of blood clots in Canada while more than 700,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered so far.
On March 29 the province suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people under 55 due to blood clot concerns. B.C. is now following Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario, where they have decided that adults 40 and over can safely receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.
In addition, due to high case counts, B.C. will vaccinate all adults in Invermere and Enderby.
Adults 40 and older in 13 other high-risk areas of B.C., totalling almost 200,000 people, will also be eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine through health authority clinics. They include: Dawson Creek, West Newton, East Newton, Whalley, North Delta, Panorama, South Langley Township, West Abbotsford, North Surrey, Port Coquitlam, Squamish, Kensington and Fleetwood.
Other than Dawson Creek, Invermere and Enderby, all of the priority areas are located in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health authorities, where they have consistently had the highest daily case counts.
“So these highest priority communities have been identified by the data that we've been collecting at (the B.C. Centre for Disease Control) that allows us to understand where the highest transmission risk is happening and where the immunization rates are lower,” Henry said.
She hopes the targeted approach will reduce hospitalizations.
A surge in COVID-19 cases has hospitals nearing capacity. Hospitals in Fraser Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, Northern Health and Interior Health were at more than 95 per cent capacity as of April 16.
Hospital occupancy across the province was at 94.9 per cent of total beds and 80.9 per cent of critical care beds on Monday. When “surge beds” are added, occupancy drops to 56.5 per cent of critical care beds. Hospitals in the Vancouver Coastal Health region were at 100 per cent of critical care capacity before surge beds were taken into account.
As of Monday, there were 441 people in hospital with COVID -19 and 137 in intensive care units. The most dramatic increase in hospitalizations has been among people ages 55-59.
“Compared to January, and compared to last April, the COVID-19 situation or hospital is significantly more challenging,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix.
However, Dix said hospitals have so far been able to deal with the demand partly because there have been no hospitalizations due to influenza.