Bleeding and clotting after Covid-19 vaccination minuscule: Govt report

Bleeding and clotting cases following Covid-19 vaccination in India are minuscule but definitive and in line with the expected number of such diagnoses, a report submitted by the national committee on the Adverse Effects Following Immunisation (AEFI) on Monday said. 

The government decided to conduct an in-depth analysis of adverse events in India in light of global concerns, the health ministry said. Some countries on March 11 raised an alert on post-vaccination embolic and thrombotic events, particularly with AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine — Covishield in India, the ministry said. 

The reporting rate of these events in India is around 0.61 per million doses, lower than the 4 cases per million reported by UK’s regulator Medical and Health Regulatory Autho­rity. Germany has reported 10 events per million doses. 

The ministry is issuing advisories to health care workers and vaccine beneficiaries to be aware of suspected thromboembolic symptoms occurring within 20 days after receiving any Covid vaccine, particularly Covishield, and report preferably in the health facility where the dose was given.  

The AEFI data in India showed that there is a very miniscule but definitive risk of thromboembolic events. Such events refer to the formation of a clot in a blood vessel that might also break loose and be carried by the bloodstream to plug another vessel. There were no potential thromboembolic events reported following administration of Covaxin vaccine. 

The committee has completed an in-depth case review of 498 serious and severe events, of which 26 have been reported to be potential thromboembolic events — following the administration of Covishield.