UK Looking for AstraZeneca Alternative for under the age of 30

The UK drug regulator said Wednesday that those under the age of 30 in the country will be offered an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to “evolving evidence” linking it to rare blood clots, even when the European Medicines Agency (EMA) concluded a “possible link” between the vaccine and rare clotting.

The Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said routine monitoring has concluded that there is a “great possibility” that the AstraZeneca vaccine caused blood clots in an extremely small number of cases.

Their review found that by the end of March, 79 people in the UK had suffered rare blood clots after the blows, 19 of whom died.

He said that 20.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, also produced in collaboration by the Serum Institute of India as Covishield, had been administered in the UK, meaning the overall risk of these blood clots is about 4 people. in a million who receive the vaccine.

Safe and Effective Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine – UK Government Spokesperson

“The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is safe, effective and has already saved thousands of lives,” said a UK government spokesman.

“The government will follow today’s updated advice, which states that, as a precaution, it is preferable that people under the age of 30 without underlying health conditions receive an alternative vaccine when possible once they are eligible,” the spokesperson said. .

The MHRA stressed that further investigation is required as there is no evidence that the puncture caused the clots and reiterated its previous advice that the benefits of the vaccine to protect against Covid-19 continue to outweigh the risks.

No effective drug or vaccine is risk-free: MHRA CEO

“No effective drug or vaccine is without risk. While clinical trials of vaccines allow us to assess common effects, very rare effects are only seen when the vaccine is used on a large scale, ”said Dr. June Raine, executive director of the MHRA.

“I would like to reiterate that this is extremely rare,” said Dr. Raine.

She said that since the balance of risk is in favor of older people, the advice would be for the National Health Service (NHS) to offer alternatives to younger people, be it the Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

Accordingly, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) has published updated guidelines to say that: “JCVI has weighed the relative balance of benefits and risks and cautions that the benefits of immediate vaccination with the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine outweigh the risk of adverse events far exceeds for people age 30 and older and those who have underlying health conditions that put them at increased risk for serious COVID-19 illness. ”

“The JCVI currently cautions that it is preferable that adults under the age of 30 without underlying health conditions that put them at increased risk for severe Covid-19 disease are offered an alternative Covid-19 vaccine, if available. People can make an informed decision to receive the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to receive earlier protection, ”he said.

MHRA Notice for Those Receiving AstraZeneca Injections

MHRA advice for those who have received the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine and show certain symptoms after four days or more should speak to their doctors.

These symptoms include severe headache, blurred vision, chest pain, leg swelling, shortness of breath, persistent abdominal pain, or unusual bruising. The advice for anyone who experiences blood clots and low platelet levels after their first dose is that they should not receive a second dose.

England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, described the latest developments as a “course correction”, which is not unusual for vaccination programs.

The MHRA findings, announced in a virtual briefing, coincided with a virtual briefing by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Amsterdam, which also revealed similar findings and said the overall “benefit-risk” remains positive for the Oxford / AstraZeneca hits. .

READ ALSO | United States President Joe Biden Makes All Adults Eligible for Vaccine on April 19

“The EMA safety committee has concluded that unusual blood clots with low blood platelets should be included as very rare side effects of Vaxzevria (Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine),” the EMA said.

“People who have received the vaccine should seek medical help immediately if they develop symptoms from this combination of blood clots and low platelets,” he said.

The EMA said a plausible explanation for the combination of blood clots and low platelets is an immune response, leading to a condition similar to that sometimes seen in heparin-treated patients (heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, HIT). It has published new studies and amendments to those in progress to provide more information on this.

The EMA said it carried out an “in-depth review” of 62 cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and 24 cases of splanchnic vein thrombosis reported in the European Union (EU) drug safety database on 22 March, 18 of which were fatal.