It has circulated on social networks that AstraZeneca admits for the first time that its COVID-19 vaccine can cause thrombosis. However, this is an adverse effect that occurs very infrequently and has been warned by the pharmaceutical company since 2021. Therefore, the use of the vaccine is not recommended.
The idea that the vaccine causes thrombosis recently gained strength on social networks and the media after a note from the English media. The Telegraph. In this text it was reported that the pharmaceutical company admitted these effects for the first time in court documents, after a civil lawsuit.
We talk to him Dr. Alejandro Macías, who in 2009 was special commissioner for the attention of influenza A (H1N1) in Mexico. He explained to us that the information that has circulated on social networks, and even in some national media headlines, is misinforming because they make it appear that AstraZeneca has hidden data, when this is not the case.
The Hound also spoke with José Luis Sánchez Salas, doctor of Sciences with a specialty in Microbiology. He explained to us that the risk of suffering thrombosis is greater —condition when a blood clot forms in a deep vein—due to infection of COVID-19 than for vaccines.
Both specialists agree that the incidence of this adverse effect is very low, less than 1%. And Macías recalled that these cases generally only happen in the weeks after the vaccine is administered.
What is the lawsuit against AstraZeneca about?
In England, the pharmaceutical company is being sued, accusing it that its vaccine — which was developed at the University of Oxford — caused “death and serious injuries in dozens of cases,” according to The Telegraph.
The first reported case was that of Jamie Scott, who was left with a permanent brain injury allegedly after receiving the vaccine in 2021.
According to the English media, AstraZeneca sent a response letter to the lawyers in 2023 in which they say that they do not accept that the vaccine causes the thrombosis syndrome with thrombocytopenia (STT) at a generic level.
But they admit that their vaccine can cause TTS in very rare cases, although the causal mechanism is not yet known.
Am I at greater risk of thrombosis if I was vaccinated with AstraZeneca?
In 2021it was published that there could be some cases of thrombotic adverse reactions after the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Even so, the study explained that these are very rare cases and that many factors can cause these events, making it difficult to determine a causal effect.
When asked if there is a greater risk of this event due to the AstraZeneca vaccine, Dr. Macías explained that since the probability of this adverse effect occurring is so low, it is very difficult to make comparisons between vaccines.
But he told us that this complication is not exclusive to the AstraZeneca vaccine, but can occur in other vector virus vaccines. As well as other messenger RNA vaccines, they can have side effects in very rare cases.
Dr. Sánchez also commented that the population in Mexico has a higher risk than other populations of having thrombosis and that COVID-19 can increase this risk. Therefore, the vaccine can protect this populationsince the incidence is much lower in vaccinated people.
Still, seek medical help immediately if you experience any of these in the weeks after getting vaccinated. symptoms:
- Difficulty breathing
- Chest pain
- Swelling in the leg
- Persistent abdominal pain
- Neurological symptoms, including severe, persistent headaches or blurred vision
- Small spots of blood under the skin beyond the injection site
