Covid itself more likely to cause clot
... and you’ve got a bigger chance of being killed in road accident
THE incredibly low risk of death from a blood clot after receiving the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was highlighted by experts yesterday.
The chances of developing a clot and dying after getting the vaccine are around one in a million, the latest figures suggest.
Senior scientists have backed the jab, insisting its benefits outweigh the potential risks for the ‘vast majority’ of people.
Official statistics show it is far more likely that a person will be killed in a road collision – or even in an accident at work – than die from the very rare side effect.
Experts have also noted that people are much more likely to develop a blood clot after becoming infected with Covid-19.
More than 20million in the UK have received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Of these 79 developed a blood clot, according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), placing the odds at one in 250,000.
Out of the 79 cases, 19 died – giving a mortality rate of around one in a million. Only three deaths occurred in people under 30.
MHRA chief executive Dr June Raine told a briefing yesterday there was a ‘reasonably plausible’ link between the AstraZeneca jab and blood clots.
But describing the clots as ‘extremely rare’, she said: ‘Based on the current evidence, the benefits of AstraZeneca against Covid-19 and its associated risks – hospitalisation and death – continue to outweigh the risks for the vast majority of people.
‘Our review has reinforced that the risk of this rare suspected side effect remains extremely small. More work is needed to establish beyond all doubt that the vaccine has caused these side effects.’
Professor Wei Shen, chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said a recommendation to prefer other vaccines to AstraZeneca for the under-30s was ‘out of the utmost caution’ rather than because of ‘any serious safety concerns’.
Meanwhile, Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, chairman of the Commission on Human Medicines, pointed out that catching Covid is more likely to lead to blood clots. Some 23 per cent of those who end up in an intensive care unit with the virus will develop some form of blood clot, with 8 per cent suffering clots on the lungs and 11 per cent deep vein thrombosis.
He said there appeared to be a ‘slightly higher risk’ of clots in younger age groups after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, but the reason was ‘not clear’ and further work was required.
England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam presented graphics illustrating how the vaccine’s benefits compare with risks.
The first, representing a scenario where the number of Covid cases in the population is low, showed that for every age group except those in the 20 to 29-year-old category the potential benefits of the AstraZeneca jab outweigh potential harms.
In the 20 to 29 category, the potential serious harms from the vaccine outweigh the number of ICU admissions prevented.
As a result, the threat from the jab is higher than that from the virus, which explains why those under 30 will now be offered an alternative vaccine.
Other graphics showed that as the exposure risk increased – up to roughly the same level as at the peak of the second wave – the benefits of the jab outweigh the risk in all age groups.
Professor Van-Tam said it would be ‘absurd’ to withhold the vaccine for those over 29 as the benefits clearly outweigh potential adverse effects.
Other scientists have pointed out the chances of a woman developing a blood clot through taking the contraceptive pill can be as high as one in 100.
‘It is out of the utmost caution’