L FERPHOTO; A sign for a vaccination clinic COVID-19 is seen as high-risk workers receive the first vaccines in the state of Victoria, to be presented on 22 February 2021 in Melbourne. REUTERS / Sandra Sanders /
Australia will continue its review of coronavirus vaccines after the death of a 48-year-old woman was likely linked to the vaccination, Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Saturday.
On Friday, Australia reported its first death from blood clots in a recipient of AstraZeneca (AZN.L)’s COVID-19 shot. This was the third case of the rare blood clots found in people who were given the vaccine in the country. read more
“The government will ask ATAGI (Australian Technical Advisory Group for Immunization) to ensure continuous review of all vaccines for their safety and efficacy,” Hunt said at a television briefing.
He said there would be no immediate change to further restrict the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and reiterated that the Pfizer vaccine (PFE.N) is the preferred option for people under the age of 50.
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 Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said earlier this week.
Hunt also said that next week it will be decided whether athletes and support staff in the COVID-19 vaccination of the vaccine should enjoy preference with the Olympic Games in Tokyo. read more
“We want to see our Olympics come to the Olympics, and we want to see that they are safe,” he said.
Australia was one of the world’s most successful countries in curbing the pandemic, with short closures, border closures and rapid detection limiting coronavirus infections to just under 29,500 infections, with 910 COVID-19 deaths.
Our standards: the principles of the Thomson Reuters Trust.