United Kingdom Finds More Cases of Blood Clots After AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine

In the United Kingdom, regulators have found an additional 25 cases of rare blood clot events after the administration of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total number of recorded events to 30.

Medicine regulators had previously registered 5 of a rare brain blood clot among nearly 11 million administered doses of the vaccine. There have now been 22 reports of an extremely rare brain clotting ailment called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, as well as 8 blood clotting cases associated with low blood platelets.

Last month, numerous countries in the EU, including Italy, Spain, France, Denmark, and Norway, suspended the use of AstraZeneca over concerns surrounding the issue of potential blood clots.

More than anything, the move was touted as a comfort strategy to ensure the public that governments were taking all concerns seriously.

However, soon after, the drug regulator of the European Union stated that the AstraZeneca vaccine was both safe and effective for use in the population and officials hoped that the reassurance would alleviate the growing concern around the vaccine.

Officials still stick to the notion that the benefits of the shot far outweigh any possibility of side effects.

Recently, Canada has recommended not using the AstraZeneca vaccine in individuals 55 years and younger. The decision was made based on the occurrences of blood clots demonstrated in Europe.

The country stated that it was on track to vaccinate its population using the mRNA vaccines by the coming fall, and will use the AstraZeneca doses in a small capacity.