Hajdu says information on second dose for AstraZeneca recipients coming

People who have received one shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine should wait just a little longer to get guidance from the federal government, on what to do for their second dose.

Federal Health Minister and Thunder Bay - Superior North MP Patty Hajdu said the federal government has just received 655,000 doses of AstraZeneca.

"We also have research that will be very shortly forthcoming about the effectiveness of a second dose strategy that uses an alternative vaccine, and so either way, there will be a second dose for AstraZeneca."

"We will have to wait for the provinces to decide … how they'll proceed with second doses for AstraZeneca."

Hajdu said Canada now has the highest per capita vaccination rate amongst the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, which will help the country come back to a more 'normal' summer.

"As both countries proceed with a higher vaccination and a lower circulation of COVID, we can begin to plan those next steps," although she could not specify what metrics would need to be obtained to open the Canada-U.S. border.

She said the virus would need to be under control in both countries, so that opening the border would not pose a risk to the population or the health care system.

"We really are turning a corner," Hajdu said.

"We did end up managing to accelerate more doses into the country than we even had anticipated. We're now ranked as the number one country in daily doses per capita in the OECD." 

"We're starting to see the fruits of that approach," she said, noting delaying second doses to immunize more people, faster, seems to be working.