Pharmacies swamped as age eligibility for AstraZeneca vaccine drops

Dave Goertzenconsiders himself one of the fortunate ones after he secured a vaccine appointment after age requirements for the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccinechanged Monday.

After doing regular assessments based on a provincial calculator, Goertzen, 41, figuredhe wouldn't be able to get theCOVID-19 shotuntil late May or early June. Newsthe age requirement wasdropped to 40 and over to getthe AstraZeneca vaccine on Mondaysent him scrambling to book an appointment.

Goertzen was able to snaga spot at a pharmacy on Portage Avenueonly hours after the announcement was made.

"Well I feel better.It's a lot better knowing I can get it. I still really wish that teachers would get it even before me just because they are around kids all day long,"said Goertzen."But I am still going to take the opportunity sinceit was given to me."

'Can't even put the phone down'

There are about 55,000AstraZeneca doses available, and Tim Smith of Pharmacists Manitoba said they won't last long.

"I'm hearing from some of the colleagues, both here in Winnipeg as well as in rural communities, that they can't even put the phone down between calls before it rings again, so obviously, there's been a lot of interest from Manitobans," said Smith.

Pharmacist Ashley Ewasiuk at Northway Pharmacy on Corydon Avenue saidall 100 doses they had were spoken for within 1 hours of the change.

"It's been insanity, but it has also been extremely rewarding and exciting to see people want to be vaccinated," Ewasiuk said.

There wasn't much time to get ready for the rush, she said.

"I don't know how you would be prepared. Our phones were ringing off the hook. We weren't even able tomake outgoing calls because calls were constantly streaming in."

People who didn't act fast enough came up empty. Mike Link had booked aMonday afternoon appointment at Polo Park in Winnipeg.Threehours before he was expected to show up, he got a call saying the vaccine was all gone. He headed over to Northway to find out they were all out too.

WATCH |Mad scramble at pharmacies as people clamourto get a shot:

Mad scramble at pharmacies as people clamoured to get a shot

3 years ago

Duration 2:10

Manitobans aged 40 and up can now get the AstraZeneca-Oxford coronavirus vaccine from a doctor or pharmacist.

"It looks like it's going quickly. It's good news, right? Everyone is getting the vaccine. It's good it's not going to be sitting in freezers unused. That's the positive out of all of this," Link said.

Link isn't sure when he will try to get an appointment again. He will take a break for now, he said.

Manitoba under pressure

Health Canada approved the AstraZeneca vaccine for ages 18 and up in February, but the National Advisory Committee on Immunization more recently recommended its administration to people younger than 55 be suspended as it looked into reports of rare blood clots in some patients.

An Oxford studyhas since found the risk of blood clots from a COVID-19 infection is eight to 10 times higher than from a vaccine.The odds of getting a blood clot from a vaccine are estimated to be between one in 100,000 and one in 250,000.

Manitoba health officials had plannedto wait for new recommendations from the national immunization committee before changing eligibilitybut was under widespread pressure to act quickly due to highAstraZeneca supply.

Smith said the province is fine-tuning the AstraZeneca distribution chain for future shipments, and busier pharmacies and clinics will soon get more doses.

Smith expects about 5,000 people a day will be innoculated, using up the supply of AstraZeneca within a week.

In addition to the AstraZeneca change, the province lowered the age of eligibility for general vaccination appointmentsto anyone 54 and older onMonday, and forFirst Nations people34 and older.

Thoseappointments are for vaccines fromPfizer and Moderna, which are administered at vaccination sites like the downtown Winnipeg convention centre supersite.