Canada’s Alberta records death linked to AstraZeneca vaccine

The Canadian province of Alberta reported its first death linked to the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine after a patient died from a rare blot condition.

“As chief medical officer of health, I am sad to report that tonight we have confirmed the death of an Alberta woman in her 50’s from VITT following vaccination from the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw said in a statement. The patient’s identity was not revealed over privacy concerns.

VITT, or Vaccine-Induced Prothrombotic Immune Thrombocytopenia, is the term that many regulators use for the condition that involves blood clots accompanied by a low count of platelets.

However, authorities have reiterated that the vaccine’s benefits far outweigh the concerns over its safety.

Hinshaw said that Albertans between the ages of 50 and 59 “who are diagnosed with COVID-19 are 350 times more likely to die from that infection than to experience VITT after an AstraZeneca vaccine.”

It was the first death and the second case of VITT out of the roughly 250,000 doses of the vaccine administered in the province. Last month, Quebec recorded Canada’s first death linked to the shot.