The Department of Health (DOH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the Philippines will not stop the rollout of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines despite reports of blood clot among recipients in Europe.
Denmark has suspended the distribution of the vaccine for two weeks following the death of an individual after inoculation.
Countries such as Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, and Italy have announced a temporary halt in the use of doses from a particular batch of the vaccine after the death of a woman in Austria diagnosed with multiple thrombosis.
“Batch ABV5300 was delivered to 17 EU countries and comprises 1 million doses of the vaccine… There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine,” the European Medicine Agency clarified.
“EMA’s safety committee PRAC is reviewing this issue. It is investigating the cases reported with the batch as well as all other cases of thromboembolic events, and other conditions related to blood clots, reported post-vaccination,” it added.
Dr. Lulu Bravo, a vaccine expert, cited the World Health Organization (WHO) saying that there is no cause for worry on the matter.
“Huwag naman po tayo na magju-jump agad sa conclusion dahil mahirap po ‘yan. Ang dami nating dapat bakunahan para mailigtas ang buhay (Let us not jump into conclusions which would complicate matters. We have a lot of people to vaccinate to save lives),” she advised. The DOH clarified that blood clot as a side effect of the vaccine has not yet been observed among recipients in the country.
As of March 9, there have been 978 adverse events after immunization, including 892 of CoronaVac and 86 of AstraZeneca, with only a single case of serious adverse effect.
“’Yung iba ay nahirapan huminga, ‘yung iba ay may sumakit ang dibdib. Ito po ay kino-consider nating serious at pinag-aaralan po kung ano po ang causality nito (Some have difficulty in breathing, chest pain. We consider this serious and we are studying the causality),” DOH USec. Maria Rosario Vergeire assured. – Report from Mark Fetalco
