Second woman, 52, dies of rare clot after AstraZeneca

A SECOND woman has died from a rare blood clot after taking the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, authorities can confirm.

The NSW woman, 52, developed a severe form of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) which caused a blood clot in her brain, the Therapeutic Goods Administration revealed in its latest vaccine safety update.

“We extend sincere condolences to her family,” TGA said.

Authorities confirmed her case and a further three cases of TTS are likely linked to the jab. The other new cases were a NSW man, 77, South Australian man, 70, and South Australian woman, 87, previously reported as a “probable” link.

There were four other cases classified as “probable” in the past week, with three in NSW.

The new cases take the total Australian cases of TTS after AstraZeneca to 48, with 35 confirmed cases and 13 probable cases.

Chief health officer Paul Kelly said it was only the second death after 3.6 million doses across Australia.

“My heart goes out to the family, and all the friends and colleagues of this particular person,” Mr Kelly said.

“In terms of the AstraZeneca rollout … it remains an incredibly important part of our vaccine rollout. The AstraZeneca vaccine, with our large numbers of doses available here in Australia … is absolutely key in relation to us becoming safe from Covid as a population here in Australia.”

He revealed four news cases of blood clots linked to AstraZeneca. In total there have been 15 cases of serious blood clots out of 3.6 million doses. Another 33 confirmed or probable cases were less serious.

“These events remain concerning and we are looking at them very closely, we are looking at it with concern including this unfortunate event in New South Wales,” Mr Kelly said.

A NSW woman, 48, died after the AstraZeneca vaccine in April. The medicines regulator said her death from rare blood clots was “likely” linked.