"The Public Health Agency of Canada has received a report from the Province of Alberta of a case of an individual living in Canada who has experienced a very rare adverse event involving blood clots with low platelets following immunisation with COVISHIELD. #COVID19 #vaccine", Health Canada wrote on Twitter.
According to the following statements, the patient diagnosed with blood clots has received treatment and is recovering. Health Canada added that reports of blood clots with low platelets in people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine remain rare.
The government department also added that "the report of this case shows that Canada's vaccine safety monitoring system works".
Health Canada further reassured citizens that as the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues in the country, both Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada will continue to monitor the use of all COVID-19 vaccines closely and examine and assess future safety concerns.
"Based on all of the evidence available internationally to-date, Health Canada continues to consider that the benefits of the #AstraZeneca and COVISHIELD vaccines to protect against #COVID19 outweigh the potential risks", Health Canada added.
Apart from AstraZeneca and Covishield, vaccines developed by Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have been approved for use in Canada. The total number of people who received at least the first dose of the vaccine has exceeded 7 million.
