Trudeau reassures Canadians AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is ‘safe and effective’

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated Monday that the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is safe for Canadians after concerns were raised about adverse side-effects from the shot.

Reports from Europe that serious blood clots occurred after receiving the shot led to about a dozen countries suspending the use of the vaccine — some entirely and others only on specific batches.

France and Germany are the latest European countries to pause the rollout of the vaccine, however Trudeau says Canada will proceed with the use of the 500,000 doses received approximately two weeks ago.

RELATED: Germany suspends AstraZeneca vaccine amid clotting concerns

At a news conference in Montreal, Trudeau tried to reassure Canadians who may now be hesitant to take the adenoviral vector vaccine.

“Health Canada and our experts and scientists have spent an awful lot of time making sure that every vaccine approved in Canada is both safe and effective,” he said. “Therefore the best vaccine for you to take is the very first one that is offered to you.”

Quebec Premier Francois Legault said at the same news conference that provincial health officials see no risk associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

In Ontario, select pharmacies in Toronto, Windsor-Essex and Kingston have already begun offering the AstraZeneca vaccine to residents in the 60 to 64 age group.

“Across 160 Shoppers Drug Mart & Loblaw pharmacies in Toronto, Kingston and Windsor-Essex, we have vaccinated more than 28,000 Ontarians to date. While some have run out, others expect to be through the limited supply in the coming days,” said the pharmacy chain in a statement.

Health Canada said on Friday that none of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine batches under investigation in Europe have been shipped to the country. Canada’s doses are coming from the Serum Institute of India, while Europe is getting its doses from facilities there.

RELATED: AstraZeneca batch investigated for blood clots not ones shipped to Canada: Health Canada

“To date, no adverse events related to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, or the version manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, have been reported to Health Canada or the Public Health Agency of Canada,” the agency said in a release.

Canadian health officials added they are still monitoring the developments in Europe closely, but noted that the concerns are about a few dozen people developing blood clots out of millions of people around the world who have already received the shot.

Further, Dr. Supriya Sharma, the agency’s chief medical adviser, said there is no scientific explanation to suggest a link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots.

She said Health Canada has a “really low threshold” for adverse events that could trigger a pause on the use of a vaccine and wouldn’t hesitate to do so if something warranted it.

Trudeau’s reassurances come as Canada’s vaccination efforts are about to ramp up significantly.

Starting next week, right through to mid-May, Pfizer has committed to delivering at least a million doses to Canada each week.

With files from Dilshad Burman and Cormac MacSweeney