St Emlyn’sSt Emlyn´s By Dan Horner - April 9, 2021
“I am sure you all saw the recent MHRA press release and guidance, discussing the issue of a possible link between the AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine and a rare type of thrombotic condition of Vaccine induced thrombocytopenic thrombosis (VITT). This is a good example of why it is important to use the yellow card reporting system and a reminder to us all why we ideally need phase 4 research studies (post marketing surveillance) in non-pandemic times.
This statement was a helpful conclusion to the developing concerns around thrombosis and vaccination. There have been several anecdotal cases reported of unusual site thrombosis following vaccination in otherwise healthy adults. We have seen a few of these potential cases locally and it is good to get timely access to national data when you have local concerns.
Bringing together all the yellow card reports and known cases, the MHRA describe the risk of serious harm with the vaccine of around 1:250,000. Unfortunately, this risk seems higher in younger patients – reported at 1:100,000 by the BBC on this nice comparative “
