AstraZeneca’s Vaccine: Blood Clots Listed as Side Effect

A very rare case of blood clots being seen in some people – mainly younger women – two weeks after taking the AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has been listed by the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) safety committee as a “possible side effect” of the vaccine. This is said by the EMA’s Executive Director, Emer Cooke, in a Wednesday, April 7, press conference which was broadcasted live via YouTube and Europa Satellite.

The EMA safety committee also known as PRAC, is responsible for assessing all aspects of the risk management of medicines for human use. “After a very in-depth analysis, the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) after a very in-depth analysis had concluded that the reported cases of unusual blood clotting following vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine should be listed as possible side effects of the vaccine,” said Emer.

EMA Executive Director, Emer Cooke, at Wednesday press conference

She, however, noted that the (PRAC) has confirmed that the benefit of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing COVID-19, overall, outweigh the risk of side effects. “This vaccine has proven to be highly effective. It prevents severe disease and hospitalisation, and it is saving lives.”

Nigeria received nearly 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on 2 March 2021. Many low-and-middle-income countries in Africa are right now almost exclusively reliant upon the AstraZeneca vaccine supplies – is provided at the most affordable price, and in some of the countries, free of charge via the COVAX initiative, a partnership between CEPI, Gavi, UNICEF, and WHO.

The EMA’s Press Conference:

This linkage between blood clotting and the AstraZeneca vaccine, in Europe, no matter how rare, could worsen concerns and public hesitancy in Nigeria as there have been growing global concerns about the vaccine’s efficacy against the SARS-CoV2 virus variant first identified in South Africa, as well as safety concerns that have led to the temporary suspension of AstraZeneca vaccines for people under the age of 60 in Germany, and elsewhere. Some of these countries, however, later took a U-turn on their suspension of the vaccine.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has on Tuesday, asked all states administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to halt the exercise the moment they used half of the doses allocated to them. Explaining this during a media briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, the Minister of State for Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora said that is necessary so as to enable those who had received their first jab of the vaccine to be able to complete their vaccination. “We still cannot specifically determine when the next batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine will arrive,” he said.

The EMA’s statement today marked the second time it’s recommending the continued use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after the decision in March by more than 20 European countries to temporarily stop using it.