Ontario confirms that there are only two valid medical exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine

When the Ontario COVID-19 Vaccine Passport is released on September 22, individuals with medical exceptions will need to provide evidence to confirm why they are not shot.

The Ontario Ministry of Health told CTV News Toronto last week that there are only two valid medical exemptions from COVID-19 vaccination.

The first is an allergic reaction to the components of the vaccine within the individual, which should be confirmed by an allergist or immunologist.

According to the Ministry of Health, polyethylene glycol (PEG), polysorbate 80, and tromethamine can cause allergic reactions, although they are rare, so residents are advised to check the list of vaccine ingredients they receive before administration.

The second is when an individual suffers from myocarditis or pericarditis after the first dose of the vaccine.

Myocarditis and pericarditis are types of heart inflammation that have recently been seen in a small number of adolescent men and young adults within days of receiving the mRNA vaccine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called reports of these reactions “rare.”

“In terms of medical exceptions, you are at high risk of adverse effects because you have a bad reaction to the first dose, are allergic to the components of the vaccine, or have an underlying heart disease. “It will be.” Infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogotti told CTV News Toronto on Friday. “That’s all.”

Experts say the challenge is that these medical exceptions are not set on stones.

“The medical aspects of these exceptions are evolving … that’s why you can’t figure them out,” Dr. Miriam Hanna, the Allergy Section Chair of the Ontario Medical Association, told CTV News Toronto on Friday.

“To say you can’t get [a second] Vaccine because you reacted to [the first] Vaccines are really limited, “she said.

For those who are allergic to certain ingredients of the vaccine, there are options, Hannah said.

“Still, you can choose to be vaccinated in a more observed environment or at a more gradual dose,” she says, another option is to vaccinate a completely different vaccine.

In past vaccines, the chronic condition was at some point a good reason not to be vaccinated. But that doesn’t apply to mRNA vaccines, “Dr. Smontcha Krabalti, an infectious disease specialist at Queensway Health Network, told CTV News Toronto.

He says this is because the composition of the vaccine is different from non-mRNA shots.

According to Chakrabarti, the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine does not actually carry the virus, so unlike vaccination against influenza, for example, it has less potential side effects.

Responding to the components of a vaccine is “very rare.”

“COVID vaccines are very different beasts. There are few exceptions when it comes to getting medical exceptions,” he said.

“We need some standardization of what an approved vaccination exemption is,” Bogoch said, as the state plans to roll out a vaccine passport program on September 22nd.

“We need standardization, but it doesn’t.”

According to Hannah, the public health sector is working with the Ministry of Health to create a unified, easy-to-access document on medical exceptions.

“These questions have been asked. There are certainly a lot of questions,” she said.

On average, Hannah said she and her colleagues see 500 to 700 consultations a week to discuss these types of issues.

“With the mandatory these vaccines, we will see more,” she said.

On Wednesday, the University of Medical and Surgery, Ontario sent an internal memo stating that the organization was seeing an increase in demand for “unfounded” medical exemptions.

File from Abbey Neufeld on CTV Toronto.