Man hospitalized with blood clots after receiving AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia
A man has reportedly presented to a Melbourne hospital with blood clotting a week after having the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine.
The 44-year-old man received the AstraZeneca jab on March 22 and has since presented to a hospital in Melbourne with a very low platelet count and blood clots, 7NEWS reported, citing the ABC.
It is not yet known if the man’s clotting is related to the vaccine.
Australia’s deputy chief health officer Michael Kidd is expected to provide an update during a press conference on Friday afternoon.
This comes a week after Canada suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for people under age 55 following concerns it might be linked to rare blood clots.
On Friday, British regulators said they had identified 30 cases of rare blood clot events after the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, 25 more than previously reported.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said on Thursday it had received no such reports of clotting events following use of the vaccine made by BioNTech SE and Pfizer.
The health officials said they still believe the benefits of the vaccine in the prevention of COVID-19 far outweigh any possible risk of blood clots.
Majority of Australians are expected to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine as it is manufactured by CSL in Melbourne.
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