For gen-Xers, AstraZeneca ‘better than nothing’

Many undeterred by concerns surrounding beleaguered vaccine

Adam Jones woke up Wednesday, he was greeted by an invitation that would turn out to be among the last of its kind.

It was for a vaccination appointment for a first dose of AstraZeneca — one week earlier than the Pfizer or Moderna appointment Jones already had booked. By 11:30 a.m., he had his first dose, and was thankful for where he lived.

“I’m really happy. It’s been a little stressful, the pandemic,” the 41-year-old said, while waiting the requisite 15 minutes after his shot at a Victoria pharmacy before biking home. “I just heard (B.C. Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s) voice in my head saying: Get the first available vaccine.”

Hours later, the tune would change, when Henry joined a chorus of other health officials across Canada in saying AstraZeneca vaccines would be used for second doses only, instead of first, because of concerns over blood clots and supply.

Health officials in Ontario, B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia all say their provinces have stopped using AstraZeneca as a first dose. Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, has said the decision was made out of “an abundance of caution,” because of higher than initially expected incidence of a rare but serious blood clot disorder linked to that vaccine. He said there have been 1.7 cases of vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), which is treatable but can be fatal, per 100,000 doses of vaccine.

The other provinces have primarily emphasized lower AstraZeneca supply as the reason for the change.

Wednesday morning, Jones was undeterred by the low chances of a serious side effect and what he said he saw as a strange decision to stop giving it out in other provinces.

“I’m from Montreal originally and I’m just so happy to be in B.C. right now,” he said. “Ontario has been just a total nightmare during COVID.”

In Canada, the latest guidance has represented a big hit to the already bruised reputation of the vaccine developed at Oxford University in the U.K. Those who already received their first dose — understandably — have questions.

“You made the best decision for yourself & your community with all the available evidence. Thank you, and PLEASE don’t feel bad about that,” Samantha Yammine, a Toronto neuroscientist, posted on Twitter.

As vaccines rolled out where available Wednesday, gen-Xers who had already received their first dose tried to reassure one another they’d made the right decision. The hashtag #GenXZeneca was trending on Twitter once again — the same hashtag many had used in recent weeks to post vaccine selfies.

Some gen-Xers acknowledged feeling some jitters.

Lesli Boldt, a Vancouverbased public relations consultant, told the Star last week’s recommendation from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization that people not at high risk for COVID-19 wait for Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna doses came exactly one week after she had received her first AstraZeneca dose.

“Self-doubt was, I think, what I felt the most,” she said, “that sense of, ‘Did I make the right decision?’ I knew that the science hadn’t really changed, but my feelings about my choice had changed. So, I really struggled with it, I’m going to be honest, for a few days afterwards.”

But when she learned that a friend had lost a family member (not to COVID), it “reset” her thinking and reminded her of the gratitude she felt on the day she got her shot, she said.

Seeing the toll the virus has taken in India also helped to reinforce her belief that she had made the right decision, she said.

Still, she said she has a couple of friends who are on the fence about getting their second dose of AstraZeneca and worries that the headlines swirling around it might be fuelling vaccine hesitancy. “The concern is that even if people are offered any other vaccine they may fear taking it because of all the hubbub around AZ.”

Max Binnie, who got his first AstraZeneca dose April 24 in Ottawa, said he has no regrets about his choice and would like to get his second dose, but he’d also like more clarity from the Ontario government about why AstraZeneca fell out of their favour.

“The big takeaway for me is: I don’t know whether I’m going to have another (dose) of the same kind and I don’t really understand why we wouldn’t continue to use something that seems to be working,” he said.

It was reported Wednesday that Ontario expects to receive an additional 254,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine next week for people who need a second shot. A spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Health was noncommittal on the question of whether all people who had received one dose of AstraZeneca would be offered a second dose of the same.

“Data out of the U.K. shows a dramatically reduced risk of VITT in second doses of AstraZeneca, and we are also seeing promising results of administering a second dose of a different vaccine,” David Jensen of the Ministry of Health wrote in an email.

Algis Akstinas, owner of a Toronto telecommunications company, had just returned home from getting his first AstraZeneca jab Tuesday when he heard that Ontario was pausing first doses of that particular vaccine.

He said he couldn’t help but have “mixed” feelings about the situation. “Did I miss out or make the wrong decision?” he recalled asking himself.

Like so many others have done during this pandemic, he turned to social media and got a bit of a boost from fellow genXers. With one shot, he’s still more protected than if he had waited, he said.

And just look at how COVID-19-related deaths have plummeted in Britain, where AstraZeneca use is widespread, he pointed out.

“It’s still better than nothing,” he said, adding that he lives in one of the “hot spot” neighbourhoods in Parkdale.

Anxious to get on with a “normal life” and being able to travel, he wondered if the changes might now make him eligible for a second dose sooner than his scheduled second dose in August. “Can’t wait for the second one (hopefully soon) and party like it’s 1999!” he tweeted.

Dr. Stefan Baral, a Toronto family and population health physician, said unlike some of the other vaccines, AstraZeneca likely doesn’t benefit from accelerated dosing. In trials, it performed better with a dosing interval of 12 weeks.

Baral said the AstraZeneca vaccine has helped change the trajectory of the epidemic in many places.

“The calculus has to make sense at an individual level. It has to be individual-beneficial. But there are secondary benefits with these vaccines in terms of the reduction in onward transmission that we can take comfort in.”

“I just heard (B.C. Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry’s) voice in my head saying: Get the first available vaccine.”

ADAM JONES