Generation X stepped up to get the first vaccine they were offered, but then the
"Lacking the expertise, the knowledge of the science, the quick decisions and interpretations people make is that this is a subpar substandard vaccine," he said.
Here is what you should know about NACI, its latest advice and what it means for the vaccines produced by
What is the
The expert panel was created in 1964 to provide guidance on the use of new or existing vaccines in
In 2017,
Is NACI part of
The advisory committee reports to the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Branch at the
Its role is separate and distinct from
That advice is not binding. Provincial governments, which have jurisdiction over health-care delivery, decide whether to follow it.
What did it actually say about the
NACI said that these vaccines potentially pose a risk of vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) — seven cases were seen in 1.7 million doses of
The syndrome is similar to one caused by the blood-thinning drug Heparin, but has never been seen before with vaccines. It causes an immune response that affects the blood platelets leading to many small clots, which can be fatal if not properly treated.
Because VITT is potentially linked to the vaccines — it's so new the link hasn't yet been confirmed or the exact cause pinned down — NACI said the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and
The
How did NACI come to this conclusion?
NACI based its advice on a scientific, risk-benefit analysis that looks at the potential risk of dying from or ending up in the ICU with VITT — either one in 100,000, one in 250,000 or for J&J alone, one in 500,000. They compared those with how successful the vaccines would be at preventing an ICU admission or death from COVID-19.
The COVID-19 risks were further assessed based on five different community infection rates, from very low to very high.
They found, for example, that if VITT occurs at a rate of one in 250,000, the vaccines would prevent more deaths or ICU admissions across all age groups where infections rates were high or very high. That outweighed risk of a severe outcome from VITT.
The analysis ultimately found that because the risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 for younger people are much lower, but the risk of the blood-clot disorder is the same across all age groups, then the
What if you already got the
Dr.
She said the 1.7 million people in
"I would say to them that they have been offered an effective vaccine," she said. "We've been very consistent in terms of our messaging through NACI that all COVID vaccines are safe and effective."
She said once the risk period for VITT has passed, which NACI says is from four days to four weeks after getting the vaccine, then anyone who received
This report by
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