AstraZeneca jab still safe, but under 30s will be offered an alternative
People under the age of 30 will be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine after the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency concluded that blood clotting may be a rare side-effect of the vaccine.
The European Medicines Agency has reached the same conclusion, but merely recommended that healthcare professionals be made aware of the potential side-effect and that anyone experiencing symptoms that indicate clotting seek medical attention. However, France and Germany have already limited the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine to people over the age of 55 and 60 respectively.
The verdicts follow from evidence that young people, especially women, might be at greater risk of this rare side-effect. The fact that coronavirus poses less danger to youngsters shifts the potential balance of risks from getting the vaccine. Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, said that during periods of low prevalence of COVID “the risk benefit is relatively finely balanced” for people in their twenties, but “becomes very overwhelming in favour of vaccines as you go up the ages”.
The EMA stated that while it had not been able to confirm that age, gender, or prior medical history affected the risk of side-effects, some evidence suggests that the young and women may face a higher risk of clotting side-effects.
The exact cause of these side-effects still remains unclear. However, one German study suggests that the blood clots caused by the vaccine might be similar to a rare side-effect caused by the blood-thinner heparin – heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. Patients displaying the clotting side-effect also had low platelet counts – which is unusual as platelets play a key role in clotting. In cases of HIT, heparin sometimes induces an immune response setting off an out-of-control clotting reaction, while reducing platelet levels. The EMA and MHRA said that more research was needed to confirm this hypothesis.
In the meantime, both agencies have been keen to stress that the benefits of the vaccine still vastly outweigh its risks. So far, out of the 20 million AstraZeneca vaccines administered, the UK has recorded only 79 cases of this rare side-effect and 19 deaths.