The second case of rare blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has been detected in a woman vaccinated in Western Australia.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration said the woman in her 40s is in hospital in a stable condition, receiving treatment.
“The Vaccine Safety Investigation Group (VSIG), a panel of expert advisers to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) met yesterday evening and has concluded that a recently reported case of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia is likely to be linked to vaccination,” the TGA said in a safety alert.
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This is the second Australian case of “thrombosis with thrombocytopenia following the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine”.
The first was a 44-year-old Melbourne man who developed the condition following his AstraZeneca vaccination last month.
The rare but potentially deadly disorder recently resulted in a change of advice from health authorities with the AstraZeneca vaccine no longer recommended for Australians aged under 50, effectively derailing the national vaccine rollout.
The latest incident is similar to blood clotting cases seen in Europe and the United Kingdom, according to the TGA’s expert advisers.
“The panel concluded that the case is similar to cases seen in Europe and the United Kingdom of a rare clotting disorder, referred to as ‘thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome’,” the TGA said.
There have been about 700,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines administered in Australia, so the two cases equate to a frequency of one in every 350,000 people.
The UK has found the overall risk of these rare blood clots was approximately one in 250,000 people who received the vaccine.
Those who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine have been asked to look out for a number of symptoms.
These include severe or persistent headaches, blurred vision, shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling or abdominal pain.
Symptoms also include unusual skin bruising and pinpoint round spots beyond the site of injection.
“The reports of these rare clotting complications have occurred later (between day 4 and 20 after vaccination) and have generally been severe, requiring hospitalisation,” the TGA said.
The news comes as the Australian government said it had decided against buying the one-dose Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine to boost the nation’s immunisation stocks.
The government was in talks with the pharmaceutical giant, which had asked for initial approval for its vaccine from Australia’s medicine regulator.
Health Minister Greg Hunt ruled out proceeding because it was too similar to the AstraZeneca drug.
“The Janssen vaccine is an adenovirus vaccine, the same type of vaccine as the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he said through a spokesperson.
“The government does not intend to purchase any further adenovirus vaccines at this time.”
The company also required a no-fault compensation scheme before it would sell vaccines to Australia.
However the government did not wish to commit to introducing such a scheme.
- with AAP