There have been 30 cases of rare blood clot events in the recipients of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom, regulators said on Thursday.
According to the latest data by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, up to and including March 24 2021, regulators have received β22 reports of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) and 8 reports of other thrombosis events with low platelets, out of a total of 18.1 million doses of Covid-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca given by that date.β
The agency is in the process of reviewing the reports. However, MHRA further said, βOn the basis of this ongoing review, the benefits of the vaccines against Covid-19 continue to outweigh any risks.β
Some countries have restricted the use of the vaccine following the reports of rare blood clot events.
Canada has suspended the vaccine for those younger than 55 years due to the risk of rare blood clots being reported out of Europe.
According to reports from Berlin, earlier this week, Germany too restricted its use to 60-year-olds and above.
Finland has reportedly resumed its vaccination for those above 65 years after being among the 10-odd countries, including Norway, Sweden and Denmark, who stopped using the vaccine following reports of rare blood clots in vaccine recipients.
Some of these countries have resumed the Oxford-AZ vaccine after the European Medicines Agency, the UK regulator and the World Health Organisation weighed in on the vaccine's benefits over its risk, as per previous reports. The agencies, though, cautioned on the rare blood clots and in younger people, the report added.