I've been critical because our current data shows that the AstraZeneca vaccine is potentially less effective than the other two vaccines, which are messenger RNA vaccines. That's the protection data.
The AstraZeneca vaccine isn't a bad vaccine. However, you must know that it has been much less widely used than the other vaccines. One issue right now is the perceived safety of the vaccine by some segments of the Canadian population.
We know that messenger RNA vaccines have been given to over 80 million people. We haven't seen many safety issues. That's one way to encourage vaccination.
There have been many technical issues with the AstraZeneca vaccine. We've heard that it isn't as effective in people over the age of 65. That's true. The vaccine is also less effective against the South African variant. This has been shown in studies.
I don't want to go into too much technical detail. If we didn't have any alternatives to the AstraZeneca vaccine, I would be the first to say that I'm willing to receive it. I wouldn't have any particular issue with receiving the vaccine. However, given that other vaccines seem better and more effective, if I had a choice of vaccine, I would opt for the more effective one.
The best example is Israel, which has vaccinated over 80% of its population with the same vaccine and has seen a significant decrease in severe cases, especially among seniors.