Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says she will take an Oxford-AstraZeneca shot on camera to encourage others to get the vaccine.
Elliott says hesitancy around the life-saving shot is unfortunate.
“It is safe, it works, it prevents hospitalizations, and it saves people’s lives,” she said Monday.
“I am planning to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine and I will do it in front of the camera if I can convince one other person to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine that helps protect them and their health and safety and that of their families, I’m more than happy to do that.”
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Reports of blood clots among recipients in Europe had sparked concerns but the European Medicines Agency has since concluded the vaccine did not raise the overall risk of clots.
Advanced trial data from a U.S. study on the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shows it is 79 percent effective in long-awaited research that may answer some questions about the shot’s effectiveness in older populations.
AstraZeneca said its experts also identified no safety concerns related to the vaccine, including a rare blood clot that was identified in Europe.
Experts found no increased risk of clots among the more than 20,000 people who got at least one dose of the AstraZeneca shot.
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Elliott says she’s happy to take the dose on camera if it can convince one other person to do so.
Quebec’s health minister was publicly vaccinated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot last week.
Elliott’s pledge comes as the province is offering that vaccine to people aged 60 and older in pharmacies in certain regions.
