The United Kingdom medical regulator said on Saturday that out of 30 people who suffered blood clots after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, seven have died.
This comes as several European countries have paused the use of the AstraZeneca jab over a potential link to blood clots. The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in a statement that “out of the 30 reports up to and including March 24, sadly seven have died”.
Earlier in mid-March, the country had reported about only five thrombosis cases following usage of AstraZeneca vaccines, the agency further said.
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) committee, a couple of weeks earlier, had announced that the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is “safe and effective” against COVID-19. It is expected to announce updated advice on the issue on April 7.
The UK regulator said that the 30 reports of thrombosis, submitted by medics or members of the public via a government website, came after 18.1 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in the country.
Most of the cases (22) were cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, a rare condition when a blood clot forms in the brain. Eight other cases saw people suffer thrombosis and low levels of blood platelets, which help blood clot.
In March, AstraZeneca said following US efficiency trials that its vaccine is 79 percent effective at preventing the disease and does not increase the risk of blood clots.
The UK has administered more than 31 million first vaccine doses, using both the Oxford-AstraZeneca and the Pfizer-BioNTech jabs.