TORONTO – Ontario is accelerating on the vaccination front. In the province the government is proceeding in stages sent in its dual strategy to curb the covid-19 contagion: on the one hand the progressive lowering of the minimum age in order to book vaccination and on the other hand the sending of at least 50 percent of the doses in the 114 provincial hotspots, those areas that is, where the contagion runs faster. Yesterday the executive confirmed that 50% of adults in the province received at least one dose of covid-19 vaccine.

Starting today throughout the province all residents of at least 40 years will be able to book vaccination and this, according to the government’s scientific advisers, should give a decisive acceleration in the provincial immunization campaign. The commission then announced that vaccine supplies would increase in the coming days.

Next week, 787,410 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will arrive in Ontario, while a further 788,580 doses will be delivered to provincial health authorities on May 24.

Deliveries of the Moderna vaccine are also increasing: the arrival of about 400 thousand doses of vaccine is scheduled for next week. The authorities have reiterated that thanks to the agreements with the manufacturers in June and July the supply of doses will remain constant and this should allow two things: less time between the administration of the first and second doses and the vaccination of children aged 12 and over, as confirmed yesterday by the ministre Christine Elliott and Sylvia Jones.

Meanwhile, experts are divided over Chief Medical Officer David Williams’ decision to temporarily suspend the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine. On the one hand, some virologists have pointed out that the choice was dictated by prudence and the fact that AstraZeneca’s stocks are now over, with future deliveries lagging behind those previously expected. On the other hand, however, there are also those who point out that there have been very few cases of thrombosis in Canada and the rest of the world.

Federal Minister Anita Anand herself reiterated that the vaccine is still safe. “Let us not forget – added the liberal government representative – that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and opposition leaders Erin O’Toole and Jagmeet Singh received precisely the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

According to official data from the Ministry of Health, in our country there have been 12 serious cases of thrombosis – 3 of which are fatal – out of about 2 million doses of AstraZeneca administered to the population.

In Italy, on the other hand, there were 34 cases of thrombosis reported after the administration of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

In 22 cases, according to the Aifa, the subjects involved were women of an average age of 48 years. The other 12 cases are in men of average age of about 52 years. In Italy the drug has been recommended for subjects over the age of 60.