Archive 6: National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI): Summary of updated vaccine statement of March 16, 2021

On this page

• Overview of the update
• Background

Overview of the update

• NACI has expanded its recommendation for the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over the age of 18, now including those 65 years of age and over.
• NACI has considered three recent real-world effectiveness studies to inform this change in recommendation.
• While all available vaccines in Canada are safe and effective, NACI still recommends that in the context of limited vaccine supply, initial doses of mRNA vaccines should be prioritized for those at highest risk of severe illness and death and highest risk of exposure to COVID-19.

To see the full update, please visit Recommendations on the use of COVID-19 vaccines.

Background

• On February 26, 2021, Health Canada authorized the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for use in adults 18 years of age and older.
• On March 1, 2021, NACI recommended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine be limited to individuals between the ages of 18 and 64.
• Phase 3 clinical trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine had a very small number of participants over 65 years of age that contracted COVID-19 to determine the efficacy of the vaccine in this age group.
• There is now real-world evidence from the United Kingdom who has been administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to people 65 years of age and older. This evidence demonstrates high safety and effectiveness of the AstraZeneca vaccine in older adults, particularly against severe COVID-19 disease and hospitalization.
• In light of the new evidence that emerged NACI met to review this new real-world data from three studies, two of which are large population-level studies, demonstrating high safety and effectiveness of AstraZeneca vaccine in older adults, in particular against severe disease (such as hospitalization), including in adults over the age of 80 years old with significant medical comorbidities.
• Following this careful review, NACI decided to expand recommendations for the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine to include those 65 years of age and over.
• NACI still recommends that in the context of limited vaccine supply, initial doses of mRNA vaccines should be prioritized for key populations, especially those at highest risk of severe illness and death and highest risk of exposure to COVID-19.
• NACI will continue to closely monitor data from ongoing clinical trials and evidence from real-world use of the AstraZeneca vaccine and will revise their recommendation as needed.

To see the full update, please visit Recommendations on the use of COVID-19 vaccines.