Vaxx Populi: Answering COVID-19 vaccine questions

A man arrives at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Montreal, on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Can AstraZeneca be tweaked so that it doesn’t lead to blood clots?

Vaxx Populi: Researchers are getting faster at recognizing, diagnosing and treating VITT, and there is hope that they’re zeroing in on what causes it

Two vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine sit on a table at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Halifax on Monday, May 24, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

NACI approves mixing COVID vaccines: What you need to know

Vaxx Populi: If you got a first dose of AstraZeneca, you can choose to get an mRNA vaccine for your second dose. Pfizer and Moderna will also be interchangeable as second doses.

Sign that says "Book your second COVID-19 vaccine dose" at the Invista Centre in Kingston, Ontario on Monday, March 1, 2021, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues across Canada and around the world. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Lars Hagberg

How soon are second doses coming for Canadians, and who will get them first?

Vaxx Populi: The four-month interval between doses is ticking away for Canadians, while new research is emerging about the optimal time to wait

Specimens to be tested for COVID-19 in B.C. (Darryl Dyck/CP)

What we know about the COVID variant first found in India

How quickly it spreads, how it responds to vaccines and how we can stop it from causing a fourth wave in Canada

Toronto, ON- May 16 - Hundreds line up in the parking lot of the East York Town Centre for a COVID-19 vaccination clinic. The clinic was opened to anyone from any area code attracting a huge turn out. Ontario tightens restrictions to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto. May 16, 2021. (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Canada is about to surpass the U.S. in first doses of the COVID vaccine

Vaxx Populi: Canada now has strong supply and demand of vaccine doses and is vaccinating 0.88 per cent of the population daily

People lining up at walk-in COVID-19 vaccination clinic to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine in Montreal, on Wednesday, April 21, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Ontario has paused AstraZeneca. So, can I get my second dose sooner?

Vaxx Populi: Ontario and Alberta have stopped giving first doses of AstraZeneca. What does that mean for those who’ve already had one?

The intersection of Bloor and Yonge in Toronto, in pre-pandemic days. (Richard Lautens/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Is Canada on track to reach herd immunity?

Vaxx Populi: Recent polling has shown 85 per cent of Canadians have either received a first vaccine dose or want to receive one. And that’s up from 76 per cent in February.

Visitors arrive at a pop up COVID-19 vaccine clinic at David and Mary Thomson high school in Toronto on Thursday, April 29, 2021. Hundreds of people lined up through the night in the hard hit community. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Confused by NACI’s AstraZeneca recommendation? Why the first shot offered is still the best shot

Vaxx Populi: NACI described mRNA vaccines as "preferred," but the protection all vaccines—including AstraZeneca—offer from COVID is ’immensely higher’ than the risk of blood clots

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau receives his COVID vaccination in Ottawa, Friday April 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Why some people feel COVID vaccine side effects and others don’t

Vaxx Populi: Some research has found more side effects after one dose of AstraZeneca than of Pfizer. But there’s no evidence that a stronger reaction means stronger immunity.

Pharmacist Barbara Violo arranges all the empty vials of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines that she has provided to customers at the Junction Chemist in Toronto, on April 19, 2021. (CP/Nathan Denette)

What new COVID vaccine modelling says about when Canada might lift restrictions

Vaxx Populi: We need 75 per cent of adults to have a first dose and 20 to have a second. How soon might we get there?

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