Austria alert over Oxford batch after woman dies of blood clot

AUSTRIA has suspended the use of a batch of the oxford vaccine as a precaution following a woman’s death from a blood clot.

The 49-year-old developed a fatal blood-clotting disorder after receiving the jab, made by astraZeneca.

another 35-year-old woman who was also given the jab using the same batch of the vaccination also became severely ill with a pulmonary embolism, a lung disease caused by a dislodged blood clot.

Both woman were nurses at a medical clinic distributing the vaccine in Zwettl, a town about 100 miles north west of the capital Vienna, according to reports. extensive clinical trials and data collected from outside controlled trials have shown the vaccine to be safe and effective with no major side effects.

austria’s Federal office for Safety in Health Care said it had received two reports ‘in a temporal connection’ with a vaccine from the same batch. But it said: ‘Currently there is no evidence of a causal relationship with the vaccination.

‘as a precautionary measure, the remaining stocks of the affected vaccine batch are no longer being issued.’

austrian officials said blood clotting was not among the known side effects of the vaccine and confirmed it was pursuing its investigation to completely rule out any possible link.

astraZeneca said it was in contact with austrian authorities and would fully support the investigation.

a spokesman said: ‘There have been no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine,’ adding that all of its batches are subject to strict and rigorous quality controls.