DOH not stopping AstraZeneca vaccination despite blood clot concerns in EU

MANILA, Philippines – There is currently no reason for the Philippines to stop the rollout of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine despite reports that some people who received the shots in some European countries have developed blood clots, the Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Friday.

“At present, the DOH and FDA emphasize that there is no indication for the Philippines to stop rollout of AstraZeneca vaccines. The DOH, NTF (National Task Force against COVID-19) and FDA are closely coordinating on this matter. The public is assured they will closely monitor all deployed vaccines,” the two agencies said in a joint statement.

The DOH and the FDA said they are aware that a few countries in the European Union have recently paused inoculation of the COVID-19 vaccine from the British-Swede firm.

However, they pointed out that this move of some EU countries has been decided as a precautionary measure while the countries conduct a full investigation to determine the link between the vaccination and the reported adverse effects.

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The DOH and the FDA also pointed out that according to the European Medicine Authority (EMA), there is currently no indication that vaccination has caused the development of blood clots, which is not listed as a side effect of the vaccine.

“The position of EMA’s safety committee PRAC (Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee) is that the vaccine’s benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing. PRAC is already reviewing all cases of thromboembolic events, and other conditions related to blood clots, reported post-vaccination with COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca,” the EMA earlier said.

Health authorities in Denmark, Norway, and Iceland earlier announced that they temporarily stopped the inoculation with AstraZeneca vaccine because of concerns on the formation of blood clots on some who were vaccinated.

This comes after Austria also stopped giving the AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. — Liezelle Soriano Roy, Trainee

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