MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australia will continue its vaccination program with AstraZeneca PLC, health officials said on Saturday after a blood clotting case raised concerns about the safety of the vaccine.
A 44-year-old man has been admitted to a Melbourne hospital with a clot, days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, with severe thrombosis, a condition that prevents normal blood flow to the bloodstream.
The Therapeutic Goods Regulator (TGA) and a panel, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI), met late Friday and early Saturday to discuss further advice on vaccination against AstraZeneca.
“We are not currently advised by ATAGI or the TGA to interrupt the implementation of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia,” Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd told a television briefing on Saturday afternoon.
However, Kidd said the case of blood clotting was likely related to the vaccine.
“The risks of serious side effects remain very low, but safety is of paramount importance, and therefore TAGI and the TGA are continuing the proper investigation into this matter,” Kidd said, adding that further announcements would come next week.
On Thursday, Britain identified 30 cases of rare blood clotting events after using the vaccine. Several countries, including Canada, France, Germany and Spain, have restricted its use to similar reports.
Possible complications with the introduction of the AstraZeneca vaccine could further delay the already delayed vaccination in Australia.
Australia launched mass vaccinations for its 25 million people in February, most of whom are expected to receive the University of Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, as 50 million doses domestically by CSL Ltd.
However, the country was having trouble implementing the program because a March target of about 3.3 million doses was missed while states and the federal government were arguing over the debt.
The problems follow a year of significant success in curbing the virus, with snap lockdown, border closures and rapid detection limiting coronavirus infections to just under 29,300 infections, with 909 COVID-19 deaths.
On Saturday, the state of Queensland, the center of the latest small outbreak of the coronavirus, recorded one new infection, health officials said, but the risks to the public were minimal as the victim was in isolation for days.
(Global vaccination tracker: here)
(Interactive graphic tracking worldwide spread of coronavirus: here)
Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Edited by Clarence Fernandez and William Mallard