Trudeau: Every vaccine in Canada is safe, effective as France becomes latest country to suspend AstraZeneca

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Health Canada is closely monitoring European reaction to a batch of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines linked to possible side-effects.

France is suspending the use of the drug until at least tomorrow afternoon when the European Medicines Agency will issue its recommendation on it.

Germany is also joining a growing list of European countries doing the same, following reports that some people developed blood clots after receiving the shot.

Trudeau says none of the doses Canada received from AstraZeneca were from the same batch, and he’s urging everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

“I’m focused on getting vaccines for as many Canadians as possible as quickly as possible,” said Trudeau.

“I am not overly focused on when my turn will come. When it comes, I will gladly get vaccinated but I will wait my turn.”

While many E-U countries are suspending the use of the vaccine due to fears of blood clots, Health Canada and the World Health Organization (WHO) say there is no evidence at this time to make that link.

AstraZeneca has said a review of 17-million patients who received the shot in Europe and the U-K indicates no elevated risk of blood clotting.

An infectious disease specialist says he is worried that unfounded fears about the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will keep people from getting the shot.

Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti says the vaccine is highly effective, and he’s worried that mixed messaging on AstraZeneca has “poisoned the well” of public opinion.

More shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine are due to arrive next month as Canada’s vaccination efforts are due to ramp up significantly.

Pfizer has committed to at least one million doses of its vaccine from next week to mid-May.

‘Eventually, but not for today,’ Trudeau says of when Canada-U.S. border might reopen

Trudeau is waving off suggestions that the Canada-U.S. border will reopen any time soon.

The says Canadians are looking forward to the day when incidental cross-border travel can “eventually” resume.

But he says that discussion is not for today and that people on both sides of the border will have to keep waiting patiently for the COVID-19 pandemic to abate.

Trudeau’s recent conversations with President Joe Biden and other U.S. officials have rekindled the debate about reopening the border.

Biden is cautiously hopeful that accelerating vaccination efforts will allow Americans to gather in small groups by the July 4 weekend.

New York Congressman Brian Higgins says it should be possible to reopen the border by then, with a partial opening before the end of May.

With files from The Canadian Press