Ontario is reporting its first death associated with a rare blood clotting disorder linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

“This individual was a male in his 40’s and he received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine toward the end of April and unfortunately passed away a few weeks later,” explained Associate Medical Officer of Health Dr. Barbara Yaffe. “While the investigation is ongoing and a final cause of death has yet to be officially determined, it has been confirmed that the individual did have VITT at the time of his death.”

There have been 16 cases of the rare blood clots from about 850,000 doses administered.

Meantime, there appears to be lots of confusion surrounding second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Those who got their first shot between March 10th and 19th at a pharmacy are being prioritized as the province rushes to use a stockpile set to expire in a week.

Ontario recently stopped giving out first doses of that vaccine due to what the province said was an increased risk of very rare blood clots.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Williams urges people to be patient.

“I understand there’s a bit of confusion there and they’re going to have to work hard with their pharmacist to get an explanation and to get their booking time because it depends on three things, when they got the first one, when they’re coming up on 10 weeks, and to ask the pharmacist when they’ll have the vaccine in the store.”

Some are reporting the pharmacies that administered their first shots are not offering the second and are unsure where to call to book their second doses.