LONDON: Doctors are being warned to look out for signs of the most common type of stroke in people who receive the AstraZeneca vaccine, after three patients in the UK were admitted to hospital, one of whom died.
The move could have widespread implications for the rollout of vaccines worldwide. Two British women in their 30s and a man in his 40s suffered ischaemic strokes after receiving the jab, which was produced in tandem with Oxford University in the UK.
The new information surrounding the risk of stroke comes after earlier reports of rare blood clots from the jab, involving cerebral venous thrombosis, which causes specific veins to be blocked.
But the new guideline is the first time the vaccine has been linked to ischaemic strokes, which occur when blood clots form in major arteries and block blood and oxygen flow to the brain.
However, experts from the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at University College London said serious conditions caused by vaccines are “incredibly rare” and far more likely to happen to people who catch COVID-19, the Daily Mail reported.
There have been only 309 cases of vaccine-induced thrombosis and thrombocytopenia (VITT) from the more than 30 million AstraZeneca doses administered.
As a result, the chances of a VITT blood clot following use of the AstraZeneca vaccine is about one in 100,000.
