May 06, 2021
Venous thromboembolic (VTE) events are indeed increased after people get the COVID-19 vaccine from Oxford/AstraZeneca, but the absolute risk is low considering the proven effectiveness of vaccination and the continued spread of SARS-CoV-2 around the globe, researchers report in the
BMJ.
After vaccination programs got underway, spontaneous reports of thrombotic events in people who had received the vaccine started coming in, with several European countries pausing its use in March due to the clots. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) examined the issue and concluded last month that there is a possible link between the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine and “very rare cases of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets,” a condition that has come to be known as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT). A similar signal has since been seen with the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson.