AstraZeneca doses could go to waste, Ontario pharmacists warn – CBC

45,000 AstraZeneca doses are set to expire on Monday

May 27, 2021

Ontario is rushing to administer thousands of doses of the AstaZeneca COVID-19 vaccine before they expire.

A stockpile of 45,000 doses expires Monday, a large chunk of which have yet to be distributed to pharmacies administering the vaccine.

“The risk is real, the runway is short now with four days left,” Justin Bates, the CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association, told CBC News Network’s Power & Politics.

Ontario stopped giving out first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine earlier this month after it was linked to an increased risk of a rare but serious blood clotting disorder.

The province started offering second shots of the vaccine this week — at a 10-week dosing interval — to the first batch of AstraZeneca recipients in order to use up the doses.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ontario-astrazeneca-doses-expiry-1.6043540