Bleeding, clotting cases after Covishield jab 'minuscule', says Indian govt panel

The number of bleeding and clotting events following a Covid vaccine injection in India are "miniscule" and "in line with the expected number of diagnoses of these conditions", a panel on adverse events following immunisation (AEFI ) told the Indian Health Ministry Monday afternoon.

The panel said it had studied 498 (of 700) "serious and severe events" and found that only 26 had been reported as "potential thromboembolic events", referring to the potentially fatal formation of a blood clot that could break loose and be carried by the blood stream to block another vessel, reports the NDTV.

The panel further said Covishield - the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine linked by some studies to clotting issues - reported fewer than 0.61 cases per million doses administered.

It was noted that this figure was far below the four cases per million doses reported by the United Kingdom's health regulator, and the 10 cases per million doses reported by Germany.

The panel also said Covaxin - the vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech - reported "no potential thromboembolic events" following administering of the drug.

"It is important to know that thromboembolic events keep occurring in the general population... background and scientific literature suggests this risk is almost 70 per cent less in persons of South and South East Asian descent in comparison to those from European descent," the panel said.

Nevertheless, the Indian health ministry has advised people to be aware of suspected thromboembolic events.

Symptoms to watch out for include breathlessness, pain in the chest or limbs, pinhead-sized red spots or bruising of skin in areas other than the injection site and persistent abdominal pain.

The AEFI report is the result of a government review ordered in early April, after reports of increased thrombosis risk associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. That was after the European drug regulator said it had found a possible link to rare blood clotting issues in adult recipients.

In March several countries, starting with Denmark and including Germany, Venezuela and Indonesia, paused use of the vaccine over adverse events and, in some cases, deaths, linked to a rare blood clotting disorder.

Following an investigation the European Medicines Agency said "this is a safe and effective vaccine", but said it "cannot definitively rule out" a link to the rare clotting disorder. The World Health Organization also backed the drug, saying that it was better to take the vaccine than not.

The AstraZeneca vaccine, or Covishield, as it is known in India, is one of the cheapest shots available today and is seen as a key weapon in the fight against COVID-19, particularly for poorer countries.