By Canadian Press

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada for March 25, 2021

Mar 25, 2021 | 8:40 AM

The latest news on COVID-19 developments in Canada (all times Eastern):

10:15 a.m.

Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout has reached a double-digit milestone, as 11 per cent of the country’s adult population is now at least partially protected from the virus. 

Canada’s deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo says the country has surpassed the 10 per cent mark of residents over 18 who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Njoo adds, however, that 11 per cent isn’t enough to stop the spread of the virus, and more transmissible variants continue to pose a “significant threat” as widespread protection is still not established. 

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Njoo says over 4.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Canada since the rollout began in mid-December. 

Sixty per cent of Canadians over the age of 80, and 19 per cent of those aged 70 to 79 years have received at least one dose, Njoo says.

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10:00 a.m.

Health Canada has updated the product label for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to warn about blood clotting, but says reports of those events are “very rare” — and in Canada nonexistent.

The label warning follows reports from Europe that AstraZeneca might cause a rare type of blood clot in the brain in a very small number of patients.

Health Canada’s chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma says she agrees with European health authorities that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh any potential risks, and that all four vaccines approved for use in Canada are considered safe.

Sharma says Health Canada is keeping an eye on developments across the Atlantic, where researchers say they have identified a possible cause for the blood clots, but little information is available so far.

She says about 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca’s Covishield vaccine, made at the Serum Institute of India, have been administered in Canada to date, with no serious health events reported.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2021.

The Canadian Press