Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
When Gwenny Farrell booked her second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on the first day it became available, she said she believed she was doing the right thing.
The resident of White Rock, B.C., said she has tried to follow every health protocol and recommendation strictly, so her confidence has been shaken by a new recommendation from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization on mixing the vaccines.
On June 1, NACI had said AstraZeneca recipients "could" get Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna for their second shot if they wanted, but on Thursday it went further to say an mRNA vaccine was the "preferred" choice.
"I'm frustrated because now, after being told for months that the best vaccine is the first one that's in your arm, I'm being told I may have made a mistake," Farrell, 55, said.
The new recommendation is drawing mixed reaction from those who've already received two jabs of AstraZeneca. Farrell is not alone in her disappointment, while others say they remain happy with their choice because they know it still means they are well protected against COVID-19.
The committee's guidance is based on the growing supply of mRNA vaccines, growing evidence that a second dose of an mRNA vaccine produces a stronger immune response, and because of the low but serious risk of vaccine-induced blood clots associated with AstraZeneca.
"People who received two doses of AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD vaccine can rest assured that the vaccine provides good protection against infection and very good protection against severe disease and hospitalization," NACI's advice says.
The committee also updated its previous recommendation that people at high risk of exposure to, or serious illness from, COVID-19, could opt to get AstraZeneca rather than waiting for Pfizer or Moderna. Now NACI says everyone should always get the mRNA vaccines first, unless they are allergic to them.
However, officials in Quebec and British Columbia didn't move to follow NACI's advice, instead saying residents can still make a personal choice for either a mixed schedule or two doses of AstraZeneca.
"The very real world evidence shows us we have good protection across the board with both vaccines in our community," B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said.
As of June 5, 2.1 million Canadians had received one dose of AstraZeneca, and 15,186 had received two doses.
There are no further shipments of AstraZeneca scheduled, but there are still about half a million doses of it in the provinces.
Toronto resident Sophie Nadeau said she remains grateful that she got her second AstraZeneca jab on Tuesday.
"I mean I'm fully vaccinated, that's amazing," she said.
Nadeau said she made the best decision she could with the information available at the time. As a single mother who hasn't been able to see her parents in a long time, it was important to get the first vaccine that was available.
As a public relations professional, Nadeau said she has a lot of empathy for those responsible for communicating what she understands to be naturally evolving recommendations as new evidence becomes available.
"There are no perfect choices when it comes to COVID-19," she said, adding the pandemic has made everyone develop risk assessment skills.
"I really do feel like for the last year and a half, every single thing has become an assessment of risk: from masks, to letting my kids out, to seeing my parents or choosing not to in this case. By this point, I've kind of become emotionally prepared for the story to change."
Mike Farnworth, British Columbia's minister of public safety, said he got his second AstraZeneca dose last week and would do the same if it was available this week.
He said his message to other British Columbians who have received two doses is the same: "Don't worry, you're fully vaccinated."
Others aren't so sure. Michael Slavitch, 54, made two separate appointments for his second dose because of mixed advice.
He now plans to cancel his AstraZeneca appointment Monday and keep his appointment for an mRNA shot.
Slavitch said he's particularly concerned about whether his AstraZeneca vaccine, or mixing and matching, will be accepted by other countries as international travel opens up.
"I'm confused about what to do," he said. "Our government is responsible for cleaning up this mess."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2021.
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.