lol Canada

AstraZeneca manufactured in the US was shipped to Mexico and Canada.

None was used domestically because it was considered an inferior vaccine.

The first response to this thread was laughing at Canadians for having gotten a crappier vaccine. Let's not do that. It's really rude. Show some empathy. In most of the world there haven't been enough vaccines to go around. People take what they can get.

Rather than just focusing of the efficacy of a vaccine in preventing infections you might want to consider how affective a vaccine is providing protection against severe disease.  I'd agree that most of the evidence suggests Pfizer is probably a better vaccine but I'd imagine most vaccine will eventually become less effective against  infections as the virus continues to mutate, as we are already starting to see with the Delta strain. What is  critical though is how well they keep people out of hospital and prevent them from dying.  In this regard Astra still does quite well, despite its higher incidence of side-effects.

Doesn’t matter people with AstraZeneca are not allowed to attend events. Does this mean that the other vaccines are vulnerable?

Why would a vaccinated person be scared of a person who took another vaccine? What if the other vaccine causes heart conditions will they automatically be denied health insurance for that brand of vaccine? Looking at young children with side effects from the mRNA vaccine.

Why would a vaccinated person be scared of a person who took another vaccine?

Because the American brands are only 95% effective. And that's on average. The fatter a person is, the less likely the vaccine is to work. Do they want to sit next to someone with a vaccine that is 70% effective? I guess not. Maybe they'd be afraid that person could spread COVID to them, COVID they could give to someone else.

Your link is older than mine. And you're missing the point, not just about the new variants (for which Az is less effective than the American brands), but about the spreading of disease to others. Yes, the Az may give good protection to the recipient in terms of how severely the disease may eventually develop, but if it doesn't knock it out quickly in the initial stages, there's an increased spreader risk to others. That's why discrimination against Az-ers is happening, and it's somewhat justified from a mathematical standpoint.

I'm not arguing that Astra is more effective than Pfizer so I'm not sure exactly what your point is.  If I had the choice I would have chosen the Pfizer vaccine. Unfortunately though not everybody has that choice, especially not in developing countries. However, that said, the discrimination issue would only bother me if I had immediate plans for international travel, with the possibility of being able to return home. (I don't have private medical insurance as our socialised medical system is quite adequate for my age cohort). Nonetheless, the way it looks at the moment, international travel isn't going to be possible for us until about mid 2022 by which time the goal post would probably move a fair bit more.  Of far greater concern though, is the risk of long Covid, hospitalisation, and severe disease, given our population's present level of vulnerability and the likelihood of more contagious strains like Delta eventually escaping quarantine and spreading within our community.  For that reason I'm glad I've been vaccinated with Astra rather than nothing at all.

As a Canadian with AZ in my arm, I think the USA (and companies there) are completely correct to only accept vaccine records for FDA approved vaccines.

What I disagree with is nationalistic bias regarding approvals.

I will wait a few years and read eventual comparison studies as to effectiveness and side effects.

Then I'll target which vaccine to inject into my body. Or not.

At this point it is clear that any of them are better than nothing.

UAE had been very open with the trial data for Sinovac. They are doing 3rd shots there for the first recipients because antibodies are dropping.

You can always go to the US and buy whatever you like eventually, but everybody should get what they can as soon as they can unless *your* doctor (not the guy in YouTube) tells you that you should not.

I received the first vaccine of az, should I mix it up and ask for pfizer or Moderna? If I do will my status be fully vaccinated or vaccinated with az and therefore equal to someone unvaccinated??  Serious question

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/skorea-mix-and-match-covid-19-vaccine-doses-760000-people-2021-06-18/

SEOUL, June 18 (Reuters) - Some 760,000 South Koreans who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca Plc's (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine will be offered Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) vaccine as a second shot due to shipment delays by global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX, the government said.