Ontario health minister will take Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to combat hesitancy
Published March 22, 2021 at 10:18 pm
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says she will take an Oxford-AstraZeneca shot on camera to encourage others to get the vaccine.
Elliott says hesitancy around the life-saving shot is unfortunate.
Reports of blood clots among recipients in Europe had sparked concerns but the European Medicines Agency has since concluded the vaccine did not raise the overall risk of clots.
Elliott says she’s happy to take the dose on camera if it can convince one other person to do so.
Quebec’s health minister was publicly vaccinated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot last week.
Elliott’s pledge comes as the province is offering that vaccine to people aged 60 and older in pharmacies in certain regions.
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Premier Doug Ford says the pharmacy vaccine project will be expanding to more sites in the hot spots of Toronto, York and Peel Region.
A pilot offering Oxford-AstraZeneca shots started this month in Toronto, Kingston and Windsor pharmacies and it’s expected to expand to 700 sites over the next few weeks.
The government has been criticized for passing over hot spot neighbourhoods and regions in the initial pharmacy pilot.
Solicitor General Sylvia Jones says hot spots weren’t forgotten but the province was limited by vaccine supply and an April 2 expiry date for the first doses.
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