KITCHENER -- Those who got their first shot of the Oxford-AstraZenenca COVID-19 vaccine in Wellington County, Dufferin County, or Guelph will be able to get their second dose as of Monday.
The development for the region comes as Ontario’s top doctor gave the go ahead for AstraZeneca to be used as a second dose in order to avoid the vials going to waste.
“Choosing to receive the second dose of AstraZeneca vaccine at the 10 week interval is safe and provides strong protection against the COVID-19 infection,” said Dr. David Williams, the chief medical officer of Ontario. “It’s fairly negligible at this stage here, so we think it’s fine to use the 10-12 week interval. Many countries like the UK were down to eight weeks.”
The 55,000 doses are expected to expire at the end of the month.
The vaccine was offered through some primary care offices as part of the early rollout in the area, so those who were first to get the shot will be first in line to get the second dose next week.
The interval between shots has been shortened from the recommended 12 weeks to 10 weeks.
Those who got their first AstraZenenca shot after March 19 will be able to get their second shot 12 weeks after the date. At the time of the first shots, the target was a 16 week interval.
