At least 36 people have developed a rare blood disorder after taking the Pfizer and BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, according to The New York Times.
- The disease is called immune thrombocytopenia, which leads to a lack of ‘platelets’, which are ‘cells that are necessary to make a blood clot, a process that prevents you from constantly bleeding from the site of an injury’, according to Newsweek .
What is happening?
According to the New York Times, the U.S. government’s vaccination system against adverse events has seen 36 cases of the disease since the end of January. In each case, the vaccines Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna were involved.
- “But the reporting system only shows problems described by health care providers or patients after vaccination, and does not indicate whether the shots caused the problems,” according to The New York Times.
- “It is not known if this blood disorder is related to the COVID vaccines,” according to The New York Times.
- According to Fox News, no cases of thrombocytopenia have been reported during the COVID-19 vaccine trials of Moderna and Pfizer.
Reaction
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are both investigating the reports. At present, the rates reported among those vaccinated are not higher than in the U.S. population.
- According to Newsweek, the Association for Platelet Disorder said that about 100,000 people in the US have the condition.
A Pfizer spokesman told Fox News that he was “aware of cases of thrombocytopenia in recipients of our COVID-19 vaccine” and took the reports “very seriously”.
- ‘We collect relevant information to share with the FDA. At this stage, however, we have not been able to establish a causal link with our vaccine, ‘the spokesperson added. ‘To date, millions of people have been vaccinated and we are monitoring all adverse events in individuals receiving our vaccine. Serious side effects, including non-vaccine-related deaths, will unfortunately occur at a similar rate as in the general population. “
Anything else?
The CDC has said that the coronavirus vaccine is completely safe and that side effects are normal.
- ‘COVID-19 vaccination will help you get COVID-19. You may have side effects, which are normal signs that your body is building up protection. These side effects may affect your ability to do daily activities, but they will disappear within a few days. ‘