The health authorities in Bangladesh have said Covid-19 vaccine takers in the country are yet to report a single incident of blood clotting.
A total 4.58 million people have been vaccinated since the nationwide vaccination campaign kicked off on February 7. Vaccine takers have reported 897 adverse events so far, but all of them were minor and there were no signs of blood clotting.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque after visiting the vaccine manufacturing center in Savar told reporters on Thursday that they have heard that a few countries have temporarily stopped providing the vaccine. “There is no proven connection between blood clotting and the Oxford Astazaneca vaccine. World Health Organization also said that the vaccine is safe. So, there is no reason to stop it. We will continue administrating it as per schedule.”
At least 16 countries recently suspended the administration of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine shots after several vaccine takers in Europe began suffering from blood clots. Any links between the blood clotting and the vaccine are yet to be confirmed.
Denmark was the first to announce that it was suspending the jab, followed by Norway and Iceland.
Experts have said it is highly unlikely that a severe condition such as blood clotting will go undetected.
Dr Mohiuddin Ahmed Khan, head of the department of haematology at Dhaka Medical College, said the external symptoms of a blood clot differ depending on the organ in which it had developed.
“A blood clot in the brain will result in dizziness, vomiting and headaches, whereas a blood clot in the eye may lead to blurry vision or objects appearing to be discoloured. If there is a clot in the heart or kidney, they will stop functioning and there is likely to be a heart attack,” he added.
“There is no evidence of blood clots developing from the vaccine. All we have are some suspicions,” the professor further said.
However, he still suggested that the government increase monitoring of vaccine takers, just to be safe.
According to media reports, a total of 22 blood clots, including one death, have been reported from among more than three million people vaccinated in the European Economic Area.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) recently came out in support of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and urged nations not to suspend its rollout.
There have been just 30 reports of blood clots from among almost five million people vaccinated across all of Europe, the EMA said.
Dr Golam Rahat Khan, a Bangladesh-born doctor in the UK, claimed there was no relation between the vaccine and the blood clotting.
“Blood clotting was there before the vaccine was produced and it is still there now. Some 17 million people have so far been given the dose and all are doing well. No such (blood clotting) incident has been reported,” said the doctor, who works in the Emergency and Intensive Care Medicine unit under the UK National Health Service.
Praising the vaccination program in the UK, he said the number of Covid-19 deaths had come down from 2,000 per day three months ago to double digits since the program began.
When contacted, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Additional Director General Dr Nasima Sultana said only mild adverse events had so far been reported in Bangladesh.
“We have not received any information or evidence that any of the vaccine takers have developed blood clots,” she added.
Common adverse events that have been reported include fever, pain at the vaccination spot, headache, vomiting and body aches.
