Canada's health authority says benefits of AstraZeneca vaccine 'far outweigh risks'

The AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine remains safe, Canadian health authorities said, after a rare case of blood clotting affected a person who had been administered the shot.

The patient, who lives in the western province of Alberta and received a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine supplied by the Serum Institute of India, "has received treatment and is recovering," health authorities wrote on Twitter.

Canada reported its first case of blood clotting associated with low platelets on Tuesday in a Quebec woman who received the same shot.

Blood clot formations linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine "remain very rare" and Canada still believes that the vaccine's benefits "outweigh the potential risks," Health Canada and the Public Health Agency said.

Authorities said they would "continue to monitor the use of all #COVID19 vaccines closely and examine and assess any new safety concerns."

At the end of March Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunisation recommended suspending the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in people under the age of 55 while it evaluated the risks.

However Health Canada said on Wednesday, that according to its analysis, limiting the use of the vaccine to certain populations was not necessary for the moment.

After a slow start, Canada's vaccine campaign is gaining momentum. To date, 23.3 per cent of the Canadian population has received at least one vaccine dose according to the Covid-19 Tracker Canada website.

The country is facing a third coronavirus wave, however, that has recently forced provinces to tighten restrictions.

Ontario, which has the highest number of cases, announced on Friday it would strengthen and extend lockdown measures until May 19, and also close its borders with the provinces of Quebec and Manitoba beginning on Monday.

Canada has recorded more than 1.1 million cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic and more than 23,500 deaths.

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