Canada Extends Shelf Life of AstraZeneca Jab

Canadian health authorities announced Saturday they were pushing back the expiration date on nearly 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine by one month.

Health Canada said in a statement its approval to extend the shelf life of two lots of vaccines from May 31 to July 1 was supported by ''scientific evidence.''

A spokesperson for Health Canada said that as of May 22, there were about 49,000 doses of AstraZeneca in the country with an expiration date of May 31. CBC reported that most were in Ontario province.

Canadian health authorities had previously approved a six-month shelf life for AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine.

But they said they received information from the company on May 27 including “product stability and mathematical modeling data” that showed the two slots could be safely and effectively used for an extra month.

In addition to AstraZeneca, vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are approved for use in Canada.