Rare clotting risk far greater with Covid
THE rare clotting condition associated with Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca vaccines that can be fatal is called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).
However, there is a much greater risk of clotting associated with contracting Covid-19.
In the US, the incidence of clotting in those admitted to hospital within two weeks following Covid-19 is about four in 100,000. Around one-in-five patients admitted to ICU after contracting Covid-19 experienced clotting as a complication of the virus, according to our National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC).
In relation to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which the HSE began administering for the first time this week, the European Medicines Agency advised that a warning of rare clotting events come with the vaccine on the back of seven cases connected to it in mid-April.
The US has continued to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. As of May 7 there have been 17 TTS events out of eight million doses of the vaccine administered and three cases of TTS deaths following the vaccine. Two of the TTS cases occurred among women aged 30 to 39 years and one in a woman aged 50 to 59 years.
Up to April 28 in the UK, out of 28.5m million doses of AstraZeneca administered there have been 242 cases of TTS and 49 associated deaths, according to health authorities there.