A medical worker prepares a dose of Oxford / AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine in a vaccination center in Antwerp, Belgium, 18 March 2021. REUTERS / Yves Herman
Australia reported its first death from blood clots at a recipient of AstraZeneca (AZN.L)’s COVID-19 shot on Friday, and its regulator said there was a likely link between the death of the 48-year-old woman and the vaccine.
Her was the third case of the rare blood clots found in people who were given the vaccine in Australia. The other two are recovering well, the Administration for Therapeutic Goods (TGA) added.
It is said to be carefully reviewing similar cases in Australia.
The woman in New South Wales received the AstraZeneca vaccine on April 8, the day the government announced that the Pfizer (PFE.N) vaccine would be given as a preference to patients under 50, delaying the vaccination schedule . read more
In the absence of an alternative cause for the blood clot she developed, the Australian Vaccine Safety Group (VSIG) ‘believed that a causal link with vaccination should be accepted at present’, the TGA said.
The VSIG held a meeting late Friday following the news of the woman’s death.
The TGA said her case was complicated by underlying medical conditions, including diabetes, “as well as some atypical features.”
To date, at least 885,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered in Australia, equal to the incidence of blood clots in every 295,000 cases, the TGA said.
“The total number … has so far not been higher than the expected background figure for the more common type of blood clots,” he said.
The UK regulator, the Regulatory Agency for Medicines and Healthcare Products, has concluded from cases reported in the UK that the overall risk of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis – a rare blood clot in the brain – was around 1 in 250,000 which received the vaccine. .
Australia has reported more than 22,000 COVID-19 cases of community transmission and 909 deaths. read more
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