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'Do not feel in the least bit ripped off': #GenXZeneca reacts to stoppage of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines

'Do not feel in the least bit ripped off': #GenXZeneca reacts to stoppage of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines

After Ontario announced Tuesday that it will pause administering first doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Ontarians continue to navigate what this means for individuals who have received the first dose of the vaccine.

Dr. David Williams, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, cited increased concerns around the rare blood clot adverse event associated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT).

Ontario's chief medical officer of health confirmed that as of May 8, 651,012 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were administered with a rate of VITT of 0.9 per 100,000 dose administered. A total of 202,873 doses of the COVISHIELD vaccine were administered with a rate of VITT of one per 100,000 doses. But more recently, there have been increase reports of VITT with a rate of 1.7 per 100,000 doses administered.

Despite these concerns, Ontario's chief medical officer of health said Ontarians who received their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine made the right decision.

"We maintain that those who received their first dose with the AstraZeneca vaccine did absolutely the right thing to protect illness, and to protect their families, loved one and communities," Dr. Williams said.

That is a point that many health experts are stressing to Ontarians, stating that those who received their first dose of the vaccine made the right decision and it is still an effective vaccine.

With the hashtag #GenXZeneca trending on Twitter, many people in Ontario have indicated that they are happy they got their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and are even happy to get their second dose of the same vaccine.

According to data from Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory table, the risk of VITT from countries with "moderate to high data quality" range from one case per 26,5001 to one case per 127,300 for first doses, while data from the U.K. suggests that the risk is much lower for the second dose.

The province has not released a clear plan on whether individuals can receive a second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine or if they will receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine instead.

However, some people still don't feel completely comfortable with how the associated risks, and subsequent pause, was communicated to them.