Data from AstraZeneca’s clinical trials, involving 24,000 people, found four of these thromboembolic events occurred in people given the vaccine, and eight occurred in the placebo group who didn’t receive the COVID vaccine.
Following vaccination with the AstraZeneca shot, these events did not occur at a rate higher than the expected “background rate”.
As of March 10, there have been 30 thromboembolic events reported from almost five million people given COVID vaccines in the European Economic Area.
In the UK, more than 11 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered, and the rate of blood clots has not been greater than the natural rate expected to occur.
Australia will need to detect whether rates of clots are the same or greater than expected following COVID vaccines. To do so, our vaccine safety surveillance service in Victoria, called SAEFVIC, has determined local background rates of these (and other) potential adverse events, though this isn’t yet published data. Other jurisdictions throughout Australia have done the same, in collaboration with the TGA. As the COVID vaccine rollout continues, we will monitor if the number of these events in Australia remains within the expected “background rate”.
Data suggest no increased risk of blood clots from the AstraZeneca vaccine. Australia shouldn’t pause its rollout (theconversation.com)
