One blood clot linked to Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid jab in Wales
One person in Wales has developed a rare blood clot after having the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “More than a million people in Wales have had this vaccine with only one confirmed case of this specific type of rare blood clot following vaccination. There have been no deaths.”
It comes after The EU medicines regulator ruled that blood clots are a "very rare" side effect of the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine.
People under the age of 30 will be offered alternatives to the AstraZeneca vaccine after the UK medicines regulator said there was a possible link between the jab and “extremely rare” blood clots.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the benefits of the vaccine still outweigh the risks overall, but while it has not concluded that the vaccine causes rare brain clots, it says the link is getting firmer.
The MHRA said the balance of risk for the AstraZeneca vaccine is very favourable for older people but “more finely balanced” for younger groups, who do not tend to suffer serious Covid illness.
As a result, people aged 18 to 29 will be offered the Pfizer, Moderna or other jabs that come on stream as the vaccination programme rolls out across the UK.
The Moderna vaccine, the third coronavirus jab to be approved for use in the UK, was given to patients in Wales on Wednesday 7 April.
The first dose was administered at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen as Wales became the first UK nation to distribute Moderna's vaccine.
Unpaid carer Elle Taylor, 24, from Ammanford, was the first Briton to receive the vaccine after getting the jab at the hospital.
Swansea Bay UHB's Executive Medical Director said: “According to the MHRA, the risk of this side effect is very small - about four in one million - to those who receive the vaccine.
“More than 20 million doses of this vaccine have been given in the UK so far, with 79 reported cases of these unusual blood clots – which is an occurrence of 0.000395%.
“While you may be concerned with what you are hearing in the news, the MHRA has made clear that the benefits of vaccination greatly outweigh the risks, and this type of “course correction” is common in vaccination schemes.
“But patient and product information will be updated to make sure everyone is aware of this very rare side effect along with other potential side effects.
“The Welsh Government, Public Health Wales and NHS Wales are working with other agencies to continually monitor vaccine safety, and are keeping this issue under close review.
"In Wales, people’s safety will always come first and we will only use vaccines where it is safe to do so and the benefits continue to outweigh the risks."
The Welsh Government has said it does not see any delay to the vaccination rollout.
In a statement, the Welsh Government said the vaccine remained safe and insisted the change in medical advice would not delay Wales' vaccination rollout in any way.
A spokesperson said: "We are considering the details of today’s (Wednesday 7 April) announcements by the MHRA and the JCVI but we do not envisage a delay to the roll out of our vaccine programme in Wales.
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