- The human body needs a continuous flow of blood through it
to keep us alive.
If we get an injury like a cut,
blood clots help that injury to heal.
They act kind of like a plug to stop blood leaking out.
The body usually breaks down the clot
once that injury has healed,
but sometimes that doesn't happen,
and those blood clots can form inside arteries or veins.
Kind of like what happened with the ship
that got stuck in the Suez Canal.
If that happens, it can actually be really dangerous
and even fatal,
which is why when reports of fatal blood clots
appearing in people
who had had the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine started appearing,
this happened.
- New concerns from Europe
over possible links to blood clots.
- Denmark has temporarily halted
the use of the COVID-19 vaccine
manufactured by AstraZeneca. - It started with
horrendous headaches.
- Concerns around the safety of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
- Reported cases of unusual blood clotting.
- In early 2021, millions of people across the world
had received or were getting ready to receive
one of the approved vaccines against COVID 19.
The vaccines were a turning point in the global pandemic,
which to date has killed over 3.1 million people
around the world.
But by the end of March, 19 people in the UK
who had all had the AstraZeneca vaccine had died.
All 19 people had suffered a type of blood clot.
A medical agency in Europe reviewed the cases
and wrote that they thought there was a possible link
between the AstraZeneca vaccine
and extremely rare unlikely to occur blood clots.
And the weird thing was no one had ever really seen
these kinds of blood clots caused by a vaccine before.
- Something like this has not really been seen before
with vaccines.
- 18 other cases where blood clots had been fatal
had already been identified throughout Europe,
but the World Health Organization was adamant
that the evidence at the time wasn't enough to say outright
that there was a link between the clots
and the AstraZeneca vaccine.
They wanted governments to keep their focus
on rolling out vaccines,
to remember how many deaths COVID-19 had caused,
and to focus on reducing that number
through vaccinating their populations.
But various European countries
like Germany, France, Spain, and Italy
had already started suspending their AstraZeneca roll-outs
because of the potential links to blood clots.
By the end of March, Australia was in the second phase
of its vaccine rollout, Phase 1b.
Some people were being given the Pfizer vaccine
and others the AstraZeneca.
Scott Morrison had even announced
that Australia had secured nearly 54 million doses
of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
But the number of Google searches
for blood clots in Australia had jumped dramatically.
And by early April,
the Therapeutic Goods Administration announced
that they weren't investigating a probable case
of the clotting disorder here
in a man who had received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Researchers are still just trying
to better understand these blood clots
seen in some AstraZeneca patients.
They're provisionally being called
vaccine-induced thrombotic immune thrombocytopenia.
It's only a provisional name
because this is the first time researchers
have ever seen something like this following a vaccine.
From the cases that have been studied so far,
it's the induced thrombocytopenia
that seems to be causing people to die,
a condition that causes low blood platelet levels
and increases the risk of excessive bleeding.
In most of the deaths that have occurred,
patients had incidents of blood leaks
and clotting in the brain.
What researchers are still trying to figure out though
is why the AstraZeneca vaccine
might be causing this particular condition
and why it's happening in younger people.
It's a hard task considering this is a very new vaccine
and that blood clots weren't picked up
during the clinical trials of AstraZeneca.
- We learn more with every new case,
but thankfully, every new case is so rare
that we're not learning a lot.
- By the time the UK recorded those 19 deaths
at the end of March,
around 20 million British people
had had the AstraZeneca vaccine.
According to the TGA,
the three cases Australia has seen
equates to roughly a one in 295,000 chance
of developing blood clots
after having the AstraZeneca vaccine.
And in an address that was aimed
at downplaying the severity of the AstraZeneca blood clots,
Scott Morrison tried to point out
that clots have always existed.
Even sitting still on a long-haul flight for too long
can cause a blood clot.
And one woman in her early twenties
with polycystic ovary syndrome
told me that she experiences multiple blood clots
between and leading up to her periods.
But for the up to 80% of Australians
who use the pill at some stage of their life,
even with the risks involved,
Scott Morrison's comment really backfired.
Experts have since pointed out
that someone's risk of dying from a blood clot
as a result of the pill is around 3%,
whereas for people who develop blood clots
after getting the AstraZeneca vaccine,
the risk of dying is around 25%.
So where do we stand now?
From global GlobalData,
the likelihood of developing a blood clot
after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine
is estimated to be around four to six cases
per 1 million recipients.
Overall, the chances of developing blood clots
are believed to be pretty slim.
But because there is that 25% chance of death
in the incident of a clot,
health experts around the world
are taking the chances really seriously.
Germany has now resumed its use of AstraZeneca
after initially suspending it,
and so have countries like France, Italy, and Spain.
But most countries have now put in place new regulations
on the AstraZeneca vaccine,
limiting it from being given to young people.
And earlier this month
after pausing the AstraZeneca vaccine here too,
Australian health authorities advise that the Pfizer vaccine
would be the more suitable vaccine
for people under 50 to have moving ahead.
That age bracket is for two main reasons.
Firstly, the deadly blood clot cases
are being found mostly in people under the age of 50.
But secondly, because older people are way more at risk
of severe complications
if they do contract COVID than vaccinating,
and protecting them should be more of a priority.
Of the 909 COVID deaths reported in Australia
as of 8th of April, 2021,
only five people were under 50.
In other words, 99.5% of COVID-19 deaths
were in those 50 and older.
- In people over 50 where the risk
of this really rare adverse event is much lower
and the risk of them getting really sick
from COVID is higher,
the benefits far outweigh the risks.
So that's why we're really confident
to use it in people over 50,
but reluctant to do so in people less than 50.
- The whole blood clot link to the AstraZeneca vaccine
has caused huge alarm among the public,
which in Australia has only been exacerbated
by the delay to the government's vaccine rollout plan.
Australia has now secured 14 million Pfizer doses,
but no one really knows
just how much Pfizer is available right now.
It's also been pretty scary for the people under 50
who already had their first dose of AstraZeneca
before the guidelines changed.
For now, the advice is that if someone
has had their first dose of AstraZeneca
without any serious adverse affects,
then they can be given their second dose too.
But because these cases of blood clots are so rare
and because the research into them is still ongoing
and because no one knows what could happen
with the pandemic itself,
this could all completely change again.
- Risks and benefits
are very different for different people.
It depends on where they are.
It depends on what's happening.
And obviously at the moment,
this assessment of benefits versus risks
is based on us having such excellent control of COVID
that really could change at the drop of a hat.
(gentle music)