Advice hasn’t changed after latest recommendation from vaccine panel: Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his advice to Canadians to get vaccinated as soon as its their turn has not changed.

“The way we get through this pandemic is to get vaccinated with whatever vaccine is offered to us,” Trudeau said during a COVID update on Tuesday.

Trudeau’s comments follow a recommendation by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), which is being accused of creating confusion.

During an update Monday, NACI said the mRNA vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are preferred over the viral vector vaccines like AstraZeneca and the recently approved Johnson & Johnson shot.

Dr. Shelly Deeks, vice-chair of the committee, said because of the extremely low risk of blood clots, Canadians might want to wait for a shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

That contradicts Health Canada’s advice that people should not be shopping around for their preferred vaccine.

The prime minister was asked if he’s concerned the latest recommendation from NACI will slow Canada’s vaccine rollout and further create more vaccine hesitancy.

Trudeau stressed multiple times that every vaccine approved by Health Canada is safe and effective.

“It is a good thing that we get to hear from a broad range of medical experts and doctors making recommendations to keep us safe. The bottom line is we need all of us to get vaccinated as quickly as possible so we can get back to normal,” said Trudeau.

Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, said it’s hard for people to understand evolving science and data but Canadians should feel confident about getting vaccinated.

“I think I am very heartened that the National Advisory Committee on Immunization is taking the data that we’re gathering in real time into account and evolving advice based on that,” said Tam.

“As benefits and risks are weighed, these parameters could shift over time and we can depend on NACI and our chief medical officers across Canada to take all of that into account.”

Tam added the AstraZeneca vaccine has done what it was designed to do and has saved lives. She added the longer people wait to get vaccinated, the longer they remain unprotected against COVID.