|
 Canada
has reported at least five cases of blood clots following
immunization with the vaccine, but public health officials maintain
the benefits of the AstraZeneca shot outweigh the potential risks.
The Alberta case, of a woman in her 50s, marks the second case of
blood clots, and the only death after more than 253,000 doses of
AstraZeneca were administered in the province, Alberta's chief
medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said in a statement on
Tuesday.
"While any death is tragic, it is important to remember that the
risks of dying or suffering other severe outcomes from COVID-19
remain far greater than the risk following AstraZeneca vaccine,"
Hinshaw said.
AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for a
comment.
Canada has had 1,243,242 confirmed coronavirus cases and 24,342
deaths, according to a Reuters tally
Last month, the province of Quebec reported Canada's first death of
a patient after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
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AstraZeneca, working with the vaccine's inventor Oxford University,
was one of the leaders in the global race to develop a COVID-19
vaccine. Its cheap and easily transportable shot was hailed as a
milestone in the fight against the crisis, but has since faced a
series of setbacks.
The rare complication, which some regulators including Health
Canada are calling Vaccine-Induced Prothrombotic Immune
Thrombocytopenia, involves blood clots accompanied by a low count of
platelets, cells in the blood that help it to clot.
Dozens of countries paused the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in
March after reports of rare, but serious, blood clots. Several of
them have now resumed use either fully or with restricions after
health regulators said the benefits of the shot outweigh any risks.
(Reporting by Vishwadha Chander and Sabahatjahan Contractor in
Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Angus MacSwan)
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