COVID: AstraZeneca vaccine shows 'no evidence' for increased blood clot risk, says study

AstraZeneca on Sunday announced that its AZD1222 vaccine, co-developed by Oxford, has demonstrated 100 percent efficacy against the severe COVID-19 infection and hospitalization. The pharmaceutical company claimed that the US-led clinical trials on 32,000 participants in Chile and Peru also reaffirmed that the vaccine was safe and was “not associated with an increase in the overall risk of blood clots [thromboembolic events]. 

“Today the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) reaffirmed the benefits of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca continue to far outweigh the risks,” AstraZeneca said in a press release. It cited EMA’s safety committee PRAC’s preliminary review about the reports of ‘blood clots’ saying “there is no evidence” that the vaccine was related to thrombocytopenia, i.e. low levels of blood platelets or clots in brain vessel (CVST).

Out of nearly 20 million people getting the vaccine dose, there were only 7 cases of blood clots also known as disseminated intravascular coagulation [DIC], and about 12 cases of brain bleeding CVST, EMA separately said in a release. The UK’s MHRA worked closely with  EMA’S PRAC health expert teams to study blood clot events that led to suspensions of vaccine usage in Europe, EMA said. It added that “there is no increase in the overall risk of blood clots” with the AstraZeneca vaccine. 

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca stated that its vaccine was found to be 79 percent effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19, and 80 percent effective in participants aged 65 years and over. The AZD1222 jab showed 100 percent efficacy at preventing severe disease and hospitalization as per a clinical study on 141 symptomatic cases of COVID-19, the company said.

Co-lead Principal Investigator for the trial, Ann Falsey, who is also a Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, said: “These findings reconfirm previous results observed in AZD1222 trials across all adult populations but it’s exciting to see similar efficacy results in people over 65 for the first time.”

She added that the new study has “offered confidence” that adults of all ages can benefit from the vaccine. The AstraZeneca-led US Phase III trial included two doses of ADZ1222 jab administered at a four-week interval in 32,449 participants. 

Europe resumes AstraZeneca vaccination

Meanwhile, following suspensions from the skepticism about AstraZeneca’s safety, European countries once again resumed administering the jab to the population after receiving a “go ahead” from EU regulators and the WHO. The campaign restarted amid fresh lockdowns imposed across several European countries amid a surge of cases from the third wave. On March 20, one-third of France’s population was issued home confinement orders. Poland, which registered the highest COVID-19 cases SICNE November last year also closed down businesses and banned public assembly. Germany and Italy witnessed a fresh extension of restrictions already in place to combat the rising COVID-19 surge. 

(Images Credit: AP)