British regulators identify more blood clot cases after AstraZeneca vaccine, bringing total to 30
Reuters | Posted: April 2, 2021 12:49 AM | Last Updated: April 2, 2021
Britain has administered more than 18.1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine so far
British regulators on Thursday said they have identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events after the use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, 25 more than the agency previously reported.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said it had received no such reports of clotting events following use of the vaccine made by BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc.
The health officials said they still believe the benefits of the vaccine in the prevention of COVID-19 far outweigh any possible risk of blood clots.
Some countries are restricting use of the AstraZeneca vaccine while others have resumed inoculations, as investigations into reports of rare, and sometimes severe, blood clots continue.
On March 18, the U.K.'s medicines regulator said that there had been five cases of a rare brain blood clot among 11 million administered shots.
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On Thursday, it put the count at 22 reports of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, an extremely rare brain clotting ailment, and eight reports of other clotting events associated with low blood platelets out of a total of 18.1 million doses given.
In Canada, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommended on Monday that the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for Canadians under 55 be immediately suspended.