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Canada is preparing to throw away 13.6 million doses of its available AstraZenecaCOVID-19 vaccinedue to a lack of demand.
However, following fears of possible blood clots from AstraZeneca, Canada leaned more toward vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Despite the country vowing to donate its additional 17.7 million AstraZeneca doses, Health Canada told the news outlet that 13.6 million doses have expired and will be thrown out after the country failed to find anyone to take them within its borders or abroad.
“Due to limited demand for the vaccine and recipient country challenges with distribution and absorption, they were not accepted,” the statement said, per AP.
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In March 2021, a U.S.-based clinical trial found that AstraZeneca’sCOVID-19 vaccineis 79 percent effective against symptomatic disease and 100 percent effective against severe disease and hospitalization.
The results from the Phase 3 trial, which involved 32,449 adult participants of all ages receiving either two doses of the vaccine or a placebo at a four-week interval, found that the vaccine “was well tolerated” and had “no safety concerns.”
The concern began after some people who had received the vaccine reported they developed blood clots, however, the number of cases was small. At the time,AstraZeneca said in a statementthat out of the more than 17 million people who received the vaccine, there were 15 cases of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and 22 cases of pulmonary embolism.
However, both AstraZeneca and the World Health Organization (WHO) said that thevaccine is safe and effectiveand that there is no proven connection between the blood clots and the vaccine.
source: people.com
