Let's discuss the AstraZeneca vaccine.

 

I am just going to give you some facts. You can make your own decision about the AstraZeneca vaccine. Today, Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) recommended provinces pause on the use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine on those under the age of 55 because of safety concerns. NACI's priority is vaccine safety. Their decision came after the European Medicines Agency ( EMA), Europe's Health Canada equivalent, investigated 25 cases of very rare blood clots out of about 20 million AstraZeneca vaccines given. On March 18th the EMA concluded that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine far outweigh this risk if there is a true increased risk of the blood clots. Most of these rare blood clots occurred in women under the age of 55 ( 18 out of 25). Thus, NACI's recommendation to halt the use of the AZ vaccine in this age group pending further review of the ongoing real-time research. So, 25 cases out of 20 million vaccinations is a risk of about 1 in a million. That means that if there actually is an increased risk, the risk is 1 case of the rare blood clots out of 1 million vaccines given. 1 in a million. Let's shed some light on that: The risk of blood clots developing among new users of oral contraceptive pills ( birth control pills) is 8 out of 10,000. 34 out of 10,000 women who use hormone replacement therapy ( HRT ) will develop a blood clot. And, the risk of developing a blood clot in women in general is is 16/100,000 The Canadian maternal mortality rate ( the rate of death in women during childbirth) is 8.3 deaths per 100,000. No medical intervention is without risks. The question is, should we take that risk? That is what NACI will try to figure out in the coming weeks. Let's balance that risk of 1 in a million with the risk of COVID-19. A new briefing note from a panel of science experts advising the Ontario government on COVID-19 shows a province at a tipping point. Variants that are more deadly are circulating widely, new daily infections have reached the same number at the height of the second wave, and the number of people hospitalized is now more than 20 per cent higher than at the start of the last province-wide lockdown. These variants are more dangerous and more easily transmitted. They cause 2.5 to 4.1 deaths per 1000 detected cases. That's deaths. The risk of serious complications with the variants is double the risk of the original COVID-19 virus: twenty out of 100. Here's a quote that scared me today. ""Right now in Ontario, the pandemic is completely out of control," Dr. Peter Juni, the scientific director and a professor of medicine and epidemiology with the University of Toronto and member of Ontario's COVID-19 science advisory table. The AstraZeneca vaccine is over 70 % effective up front and prevents any deaths from COVID-19. Breath. It is not time to throw out the baby with the bath water. Let's wait and see. No blood clots have occurred in people over 60. We should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine in this age group which is most at risk of serious complications and death from COVID-19. And....on a very positive note, Canada is now fifth in the world for the number of vaccines administered. Very nice. We will get there! Anne-Marie Please share Please note. The mass vaccination clinics in our public health unit are not yet running at full capacity. There are no 12 hour shifts or evening appointments and no appointments on weekends. With more vaccine, we will be able to ramp up but not at the present time. Just clarifying information on a previous post. For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here: https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/ And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here: https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-

Hope is on the horizon!

 

Just hang on.....for just a bit longer. We can do this. Confirmed Cases 956,656 Daily cases up +34% over past 14 days Deaths 22,826 Daily deaths down -5% over past 14 days Even though new daily cases have increased over the last 2 weeks across the country mainly due to the new variants of concern, our vaccination efforts and public health restrictions had decreased the number of daily deaths by 5 % along with a significant reduction in hospitalizations and serious illness caused by COVID-19. Restrictions and vaccines work where it counts: decreasing serious illness, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19. Too early to talk about the positive effects of mass vaccinations you say? Take at look at the information found on this John's Hopkin's University link: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html To your left, scroll down and click on 'United Kingdom' and then look at the bar graph to your far lower right. On Jan 8th/21, the UK reached it's highest new daily case count at 68,000. That number reduced to 3900 by March 27th. That's a drop of over 64,000 new cases in a day. THAT'S A 95% DROP!! Their Mass vaccination campaign started on December 8th and ramped up from there. Now click on 'Israel'. They hit their peak on Jan 27 with 11,000 new daily cases. And just 11 weeks later, on March 27th, their new daily cases fell to 538. THAT'S ALSO A 95% DROP!! They started their vaccine campaign on December 20th. The UK used the AstraZenca vaccine and Israel used the Pfizer vaccine. Neither country, using two different vaccines has shown a signal for a serious side effect or complication above and beyond what is expected in the normal population that has not received a vaccine. Except a very rare number of people who developed allergic reactions that did not lead to death but required treatment. And, the most common allergic reaction was to polyethylene glycol, an ingredient of the Pfizer vaccine and polysorbate 80, an ingredient in the Astrazeneca vaccine. Polyethylene glycol and polysorbate 80 are similar compounds. If you are allergic to one, you may be allergic to the other. These chemicals are found in a medications, household products and industrial products. Hypersensitivity and allergic reactions are rare. But, the possibility of any allergic reaction to these vaccines is why you are asked to wait 15 minutes after being vaccinated. So, pretty amazing. Countries with far higher daily case counts both succeeded in dramatically reducing the new daily cases of COVID-19 after mass immunizations. Good news? Hell yes! Because we are now in the midst of our own mass vaccination campaign which will ramp up significantly throughout April. New variants of concern have increased the number of new cases in the last 2 weeks by 34 %. Those are people with COVID 19 who now have a sixty percent increase risk of death, hospitalization and serious illness if they have acquired one of the new variants. That is not a time to be complacent. It is actually time to stand up and be part of our final assault against COVID-19 by wearing a good three layer mask ( hidesinhands.com), staying six feet apart, limiting gatherings and getting vaccinated when your turn is here. It's like the invasion of JUNO Beach people (with far fewer casualties). Let's get'er done! Anne-Marie Please share. Our next Finding the Balance During COVID-19 webinar is on April 6th with our special guest, the GWD public health unit's medical office of health, Dr. Nicola Mercer. Here is the link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J9N1Dr9NSM2a4m8QOACaTQ Please note, people 60 and above in the WDG health unit can now register online. Be patient. It may take four to six weeks before your appointment is confirmed. Here is the link to register online: https://register.wdgpublichealth.ca/ OR Call to register: Pre-registration/Appointment Booking: 1-844-780-0202 (7-10 day response time) Open Monday to Friday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here: https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/ And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here: https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-

Please, Please be careful!

2169 new cases in Ontario today

2380 new cases yesterday

This is a third wave. But this time, most of the new cases are variants of concern ( 54%). The majority of the new variants are the B.1.1.7. variant or the UK variant. We have evolving evidence that the vaccines we are presently using are effective against this variant.

Yesterday marked the highest daily COVID-19 case count in 2 months. Two hundred and eighty of these cases were cases attributable to a "data catch-up process" in the province's system. But, even with these cases removed from the total, it is still the highest daily case count in two months and today is not much better.

This is what we need to be so concerned about: There is a growing body of international research that suggests that these variants can have dire health consequences with patients presenting that are both younger and more seriously ill.

Variants of the COVID-19 virus double the risk of someone being admitted to intensive care and increase the risk of death by roughly 60 per cent. These stats have come out of a new analysis of recent Ontario data from the province's science advisory table.

Variants are changing the game.

It's a risky numbers game.

These more dangerous variants could cause more serious illnesses and deaths regardless of your age or pre-existing health issues, even among a younger, healthier cohort.

That's the bad news and it's the reason we cannot let go of adhering to public health restrictions. Easter is my favourite sacred celebration and Good Friday is a high point in our family with a house full of people decorating Easter eggs the old fashioned, Ukrainian way. This will be the second Easter that will pass without the highlights and celebrations of the season.

We have lost so much. We are all so tired of this pandemic. At the beginning, I refused to believe we were entering a 'new normal' but we did. What troubles me is that I am getting used to this new normal and I am forgetting what the old normal was like.

That may be a good thing, this surrender to our present circumstances. Surrender makes us all settle into living in the moment. It can bring us peace and give us a resilience we did not think was possible. It will get us through. Today is done. Tomorrow is a new day. Let go of the past and don't reach too far into the future, just live here and now.

But, look ahead to the hope that is just around the corner.

Ontario saw another record day for COVID-19 vaccinations this week. Public health units collectively administered 79, 446 doses on Thursday.

Ontario has now given out more than 98 per cent of the 1,780,135 doses of vaccines it has received thus far from the federal government.

Canada has administered 4,723,256 vaccines as of today.

That's up from 4,195,000 doses given on March 23rd. That's half a million people in three days. We will vaccinate many more than that in the coming weeks but the sheer logistical effort required to vaccinate this many in three days is unprecedented. And, we are doing it.

Our health unit, is outstanding, literally. In Guelph Wellington Dufferin we have administered over 42,000 vaccines. That's over 6,000 in the last three days with all three mass vaccination clinics stepping into high gear this week with plans to extend clinic hours to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Our goal is to have everyone vaccinated by mid-June. The infrastructure required for this is in place. Now we need more vaccines and they will arrive.

I love the graph found in this link:

https://bit.ly/3svBGYU

BAM....that is remarkable. Fourteen percent of the people in our unit have been vaccinated. We need to get to seventy- five percent. Your health care team is exhausted. Pray for them. Super-human strength and resilience is what we all need to keep going.

To win this risky numbers game, stay home. No more than 10 can gather in your home and the folks that do not belong to your household need to wear masks and stay six feet apart. We are hosting our Good Friday gathering outside this year. Just a short 'Hello' and a toast but at least we will keep the tradition going.

Keep it up. Please be ever so careful. Give us the time we need to get everyone vaccinated........mid-June. We can do this!

Anne-Marie

Please share

Please note, people 60 and above in the WDG health unit can now register online. Be patient. It may take four to six weeks before your appointment is confirmed.

Here is the link to register online:

https://register.wdgpublichealth.ca/

For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here:

https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/

And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here:

https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-

Now, as Ontario is relaxing rules around indoor shopping, dining and other forms of gatherings in various areas, Evans and Morris both said some regions — and younger populations — largely spared in the first two waves of the pandemic could be harder hit the third time around.

COVID-19 variants could soon dominate in B.C., health experts warn

"It's hard for people to continue to just be holed up in their homes," said Morris. "Perhaps the right thing to do is to just encourage people to spend as much of their time outdoors as possible."

Discuss the 16 week delay between vaccines

number of people who have received the first dose in Ontario and Canada.

Daily vaccines in our area and percentage of vaccinated people- great work

The variants of concern.

VAccine arrivals

Graph showing the rates of covid concerns decline as immunizations rise

Other vaccines and COVID vaccines

Prolia and COVID vaccines

New studies showing a greater efficacy of AZ vaccine- 76 %

Why the numbers change: Larger trials. Trials done in populations with a higher incidence of COVID 19 vs a lower incidence of COVID-19 and real world trials in real time vs phase III trials in study subjects

Trials are ongoing with larger and larger numbers of people being studied which improves the accuracy of results.

A Tiarra, a stressful clinic and a blessed vaccine

 

I had a lovely experience last week. As many of you know, physicians in five public health units are part of a pilot project for the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine in their offices. I was allotted 27 vaccines. Not many, but enough to run a vaccine clinic and test our capacity to vaccinate patients safely, effectively and according to all the protocols set out by the province of Ontario and Public Health. I did not sleep well most of last week. I have run countless flu vaccine clinics and my staff has immunized thousands of children and adults over the years, but having this vaccine in the office added a layer of responsibility that I have never carried before. This vaccine, along with the mRNA vaccines and several other vaccines in Phase III trials, will save millions of lives and put us in a position to start living our lives again. There was an energetic, anxious buzz as we prepared to vaccinate our first patient. We had about a week to get ready for this day. Not much time to learn a new provincial electronic record keeping system and set up the office with extra staff and strict COVID 19 protocols. My staff rose to the occasion just as they have so many times in the past when I have challenged them with my crazy goals for patient care. I love this team and we love our patients. It was like Christmas morning as the first patients were ushered in. We were all overcome with joy and hope and anticipation. Many of my patients cried as I vaccinated them ( tears of joy). Everyone was grateful for this vaccine and honoured to be part of the first group to receive the vaccine in the office setting. We had a few patients on standby just in case we were able to squeeze a couple of extra doses out of the three precious vials we had received. One lovely patient, who always makes me laugh, was called up. She came to the office with a pink tiarra, a pink and purple boa, a pink sash and I sign on her chest that said, " 2021 HRH COVID Queen". In the middle of a busy vaccine clinic, I stood in the middle of my office and belly laughed. It was a very appropriate joyful sound that added to the general excitement of the day. It also allowed me to release some of the extra tension I had been carrying on my not-so-wide but heavily burdened shoulders. In health care right now, all of our shoulders are heavily burdened. On several occasions, as we ushered patients from the exam room where they were vaccinated to the reception area where they waited for 15 min before checking out with that all important Ministry of Health vaccination document, other patients already waiting cheered and clapped as they took their socially distanced seat. Three high points in my career all equally joyful and all equally laden with extra responsibility: delivering 1500 or so Guelph babies, treating that first HIV patient who was restored to health with miraculous medications and now this, administering COVID-19 vaccines. To top it all off, on the way home, totally exhausted from the effort of the day, I stopped at the home of a house-bound patient and gave him the final dose of this miraculous day. We are so blessed. Despite the background noise about risk and blood clots and side effects and efficacy, bottom line is that these vaccines are safe and highly effective.... 100 % effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. And every single one of us will be offered one of these vaccines by the summer, the second dose by the fall. I predict that we will take back Thanksgiving and Christmas and what a joy that will be. 4,195,000 doses given in Canada so far 1,603,000 in Ontario 35,700 in our health unit Our capacity to vaccinate will ramp up dramatically next week as millions more vaccines arrive. Pray for you health care team. We are tired and this part of our job has just begun. Ontario is holding it's own at about 1600 cases a day but this graph is not so pretty. Click on this link and scroll down to the New Cases Analysis By Date: https://www.covid-19canada.com/graphs Our seven day rolling average has been climbing since Feb.15th. The variants are here, our hospitals and ICU's are filling up again. We are so close. Wear those masks, do not gather outside of the colour restriction guidelines and cheer each other on....from a safe distance. And this message from the GWD public health unit: Eligible priority groups especially high risk groups and people over 80 who have not yet been vaccinated are still strongly encouraged to pre-register and book their appointments online as much as possible as it will be the fastest way to get in the system. Call volumes to the Registration and Booking Help Line are extremely high. It may take 7-10 business days to receive a response. Please only call once and leave a message and only if help is required. Do you best to book online and if you can. o Call 1-844-780-0202 o Available Monday – Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Please do not call Public Health for your COVID-19 test results. Here is the link to register online: https://register.wdgpublichealth.ca/ Our offices may have more vaccine available in the coming weeks. We will call patients in eligible groups. Please do not call your doctor's office. We need the phone lines for urgent medical concerns. Anne-Marie Please share For mental health support here: https://familyserviceguelph.on.ca/ For local assistance with anxiety and depression: www.here4help.ca CMHA WW Website: www.cmhaww.ca Here 24/7 at 1-844-HERE-247 or www.here247.ca. And for post-secondary students, Good2Talk https://good2talk.ca/ For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here: https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/ And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here: https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-

AND....onto the third wave.

 

This one is different for two reasons: The majority of new cases in this wave are variants of concerns ( mainly the UK variant B117). We can expect the numbers to rise much more quickly and to higher daily numbers than we have seen before. At the same time, the number of vaccines being administered is also increasing sharply every day. We are entitled to feel a little stuck in the middle. We are not fully vaccinated. We are tired of masks and restrictions but we can't be free of them. Vaccines coming with a third wave? This is a race we will win but to win we need to do two things: Get vaccinated and keep adhering to public health guidelines until the majority of us are fully vaccinated. Altogether, 3,729,312 vaccine doses have been administered in Canada as of March 19, 2021. 1.5 M in Ontario 32 thousand have been administered in Guelph-Wellington-Dufferin. That's 10.2 %. Our goal is 75 %. Follow this link if you want to keep track of our progress. Status of Vaccinations in WDG: https://bit.ly/2QjEWIA Take a look at what is happening in our region as a result of those vaccinations. This is the race against the virus and proof that in the early stages of the race, we are winning. What we are doing is working. The graph on the top shows what happened after we started vaccinating people on Jan 2nd. Before that the number of cases in people age 0 - 59 were climbing ( green bars). The number of new daily cases in people 60 and above also climbing ( orange bars). The number of hospitalizations and deaths, fluctuating but climbing ( broken line and black line). Then, look at that beautiful, bright blue line that represents the number of people getting a vaccine. As it shoots up, all the other numbers fall. All of them. It is not just vaccines that caused this awesome decline, this chart also shows how well we have been at wearing masks, not gathering and keeping our distance but add in the vaccines and we are on a winning course. More vaccines in arms means a drop in new cases of COVID-19 in all age groups, a drop in hospitalizations caused by COVID-19 and a significant drop in deaths. So, what do we do in the face of these new variants and a third wave? Get registered for a vaccine when it is your turn and keep wearing a mask and staying six feet apart. Our region is heading into the Orange restriction level tomorrow. Stay safe regardless of these new freedoms. It is not safe to gather in crowds, especially indoors unless you can keep your distance and please wear a mask. Ten can gather inside. That's not a party and it is not permission to have a party. It means that along with the people you live with, others can join to a maximum of ten but those that do not live with you need to keep a six foot distance and wear masks. Even if there are people in that group of ten who have been vaccinated, it is not time to let our guard down. Not until the majority of us are two weeks past our second dose of the Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca vaccines or 2 weeks past the only dose of the J and J vaccine when it becomes available, can we let our guard down. Nice weather is coming. Avoid gathering inside altogether is what I recommend. Bundle up and gather outside, safely. No parties out there either. Follow the orange restriction guidelines for details of outdoor gatherings. This is the link for more details. https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-response-framework-keeping-ontario-safe-and-open Most people in Canada will have the opportunity for their first dose of vaccine before the summer. The second dose? Three or four months later. This could mean a restriction free thanksgiving and it certainly does mean a restriction free Christmas. And just to give you a little more inspiration, the UK has vaccinated 26 million of it's citizens and with that there has been a 70% reduction in COVID-19 cases. SEVENTY PERCENT!!!! We will be the champions! Anne-Marie Please share.

For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here:

https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/

And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here:

https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-

 

Belated Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The scowl on my face is for my beloved staff who kept playing tricks all day yesterday. It's amazing what laughter does to decrease the incredible stress in our work environment. Today that remarkable staff has stepped up again to create an AstraZeneca Vaccine Clinic. Our hope is that once this pilot project of offering these vaccines in your doctor's office is over, we will receive a constant supply that we can offer to you. And what a special day this day will be. Only good news today. The Guelph Wellington Public Health Unit has had very few new cases with under 25/100,000, only 5 in Guelph yesterday. We are wearing masks everywhere and keeping our distance. The University of Guelph in partnership with the Guelph Family Health Team opened their Mass Vaccination clinic this wee. All three of Guelph's mass vaccination clinics are up and running. The goal is 10,000 vaccines a week depending on supply. We have now vaccinated 30,000 people in our region! Thank you WDG Public Health, University of Guelph, Guelph Family Health Team and Linamar. And now, thank you to the family doctor's who stepped up to create clinic's in their offices. This was done on top of all the other work we do. Be so proud. Millions of vaccines are arriving the last week of March and Toronto will have the capacity to immunize thousands a day. Keep this beautiful number in your head: 3,442,428 And keep track of this number through this link: https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/vaccine-administration/ That's the number of vaccines that have been given in Canada so far. In the next couple of weeks, you will watch that number double, then double again and again. Focus on it, instead of the negative news and the confusing politics. Follow the guidelines, wear a mask. The variants will not affect us if we keep community transmission low and avoid getting infected. It's only months away before enough of us will be immunized to get way ahead of COVID-19. Both the French President and the British Prime Minister have asked to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine. And the European Union's Health Agency has stated that this vaccine does not increase the risk of clots. Health Canada, the FDA and The World Health Organization have all reviewed the research and they all agree. Get whatever vaccine is offered to you. And follow that link. Focus on the tremendous work we are accomplishing together as a nation and as a world. Anne-Marie Please share. For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here: https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/ And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here: https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-

"GOSSIP is NOT SCIENCE!"

I heard this on Global National tonight and I really appreciated it. AstraZeneca vaccines have been rolled out to some physicians in the province who have been asked to be part of a small pilot project to see if using your family doctor's office for future COVID-19 vaccinations is feasible. Please do not call your doctor's office to see if they have a vaccine for you. Your doctor's office will reach out to you if you are eligible. We have not received enough vaccine to give to all of our patients between the ages of 60 and 64. Some offices are using a random lottery system to determine who gets the vaccine and others are booking appointments on a first come first serve basis. We do not have control over the number of vaccines that are delivered to our offices but should this pilot project be successful, it is expected that we will receive more vaccine in the coming weeks. The vaccine that both doctor's offices and pharmacies are receiving is the AstraZeneca vaccine. I will admit that it is a big deal that 5 countries in the European Union have temporarily suspended the use of this vaccine. It would make me second guess whether or not I should get this vaccine if I were not a physician who is following the research closely. You are totally entitled to be uncomfortable but please, base that discomfort on the facts, not gossip and not Google MD or any other social media site that is not a reputable medical source of information. You know what? I want to apologize to all of you. Politics, science, medicine and social media have all mixed together into a sometimes confusing mess making everyone so anxious and you do not deserve to feel more anxiety. So, let's get the facts straight. The AstraZeneca vaccine is a very safe and effective vaccine that does not cause an increased risk of developing blood clots. Remember when folks were upset because Health Canada took so long to approve this vaccine? I am glad they took that long. We are very conservative and risk averse in this country when it comes to medications and vaccines. We take longer than most countries to approve treatments that have sometimes been used for years in other countries before we approve them. Our approach is not different with these COVID-19 vaccines. We took our time. Many European countries rushed their approval process. I think that has left them feeling a little vulnerable when if comes to the risks that may be associated with these vaccines. As a result, they may have over-reacted to the alleged concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine. Here is what every European country that has suspended the use of this vaccine has decided to do. They are waiting for Europe's bloc-wide medicines regulator ( Health Canada equivalent) to investigate a very small number of serious blood clotting issues. Perhaps it may have been better to do this 'due diligence' before they approved the vaccine? Maybe. That regulator, the European Medicines Agency, is expected by Thursday to give it's verdict on safety and potential risks from a review of the reported cases. The agency said that while the investigation is going on, “the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19, outweigh the risks of side effects.” They are recommending that countries keep using the vaccine and they have already stated there is no evidence of a link between the reported blood clots and the AstraZeneca vaccine. AstraZeneca has shown that there have been 37 reports of blood clots out of more than 17 million people vaccinated in the 27-country European Union and Britain. They can't fake this stuff. They are being watched by every scientific community in the world....very, very closely watched. There is no evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine carries an increased risk of clots. Those 17 million people who received the vaccine are still at risk for having their heart attacks their cancers and their blood clots and unless the vaccine causes many more than what is expected in a given population at anytime, you cannot link the vaccine to the negative health outcomes. The World Health Organization has also said that the data does not suggest the vaccine caused the clots and that people should continue to be immunized. “Many thousands of people develop blood clots annually in the EU for different reasons,” the European Medicines Agency said. The incidence in vaccinated people "is not higher than that seen in the general population.” Our ever cautious, ever risk averse, ever conservative Health Canada agrees and they have already done their homework. Take home message: It is much more risky to remain unvaccinated if you are an at risk population based on age, exposure risk and underlying health issues. COVID-19 is by far much more deadly than 37 blood clots in 17 million people. Not to downplay the devastation the a person experiences who develops a serious blood clot. Take the first vaccine you are offered and trust the science. Governments are fearful and some of their decisions, like temporarily suspending the use of a very good vaccine, are not based on science, they are based on that fear. We need governments and science working together. No question. But what we do not need is mis-information on social media and gossip to delay the vaccination of our citizens. Anne-Marie Please share For non-Facebook users, you can find this post here: https://braceletofhope.blogspot.com/ And if you'd like to help Bracelet of Hope work towards making sure that Lesotho has access to these vaccines, donate here: https://www.braceletofhope.ca/ways-to-