Details on 2nd vaccine doses for AstraZeneca recipients coming this week: B.C. officials

Vancouver -

B.C.'s provincial health officer said she will have details Thursday on what dose two could look like for those who received the AstraZeneca vaccine.

AstraZeneca is linked with a very rare type of blood clot of which B.C. has now recorded three cases. Dr. Bonnie Henry said the latest case involves a man in his 30s in the Island Health region who is recovering in hospital.

However, Henry did provide a crucial detail: those who received AstraZeneca will be given the choice as to what kind of vaccine they receive for their second dose.

"The data that we're seeing shows that if you have AstraZeneca, and the second dose with an mRNA vaccine, it may give you even better protection," she said.

Henry previously stated the interval for AstraZeneca would be 12 weeks, and the province has set aside all remaining doses to be used as second shots.

Information coming Thursday will include risks and benefits of mixing and matching or sticking with one vaccine. Henry also said she didn't think international travel would be an issue for those with two doses of AstraZeneca as it is a WHO approved vaccine.

Manitoba is the latest province to say those who received AstraZeneca as their first shot, can now get an MRNA vaccine as their second. Dr. Joss Reimer, the medical lead of Manitoba's Vaccine Implementation Task Force, said that she is recommending that Manitobans who received the AstraZeneca vaccine wait eight weeks to get their second dose.

Last week Quebec advised those under 45 years old who received a first dose of AstraZeneca to receive an MRNA vaccine for their second dose.