— World Health Organisation

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have stated that there is no indication that the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is linked to an increased risk of blood clots, and as such, Guyana’s Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, said this means that there is no reason for the local health authorities to be concerned.

Guyana began its COVID-19 vaccination rollout in February following the donation of 3,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from Barbados. Last week, the country received 20,000 Sinopharm vaccines from China and this week, 80,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from India.

Over the past few days, however, a number of countries, including Denmark and Norway, suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccines following reports that a small number of people had developed blood clots after receiving the vaccine.

“There is currently no indication that vaccination has caused these conditions, which are not listed as side effects with this vaccine,” the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Thursday.

The EMA also noted, “The vaccine’s benefits continue to outweigh its risks and the vaccine can continue to be administered while investigation of cases of thromboembolic events is ongoing.”

On Friday, the United Kingdom Guardian reported that WHO Spokesperson, Margaret Harris, said that Oxford-AstraZeneca ‘jab’ is an “excellent vaccine” and that no causal relationship had been established between it and the health problems reported.

Importantly, however, Harris also noted that the WHO expert advisory committee on vaccine safety is reviewing the reports and would report on its findings. In the interim, though, the WHO spokespersons advised that countries should continue using the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Health authorities in countries including Denmark, Norway and Iceland have suspended use of the vaccine in response to reports of the formation of blood clots in some people who have received it. It was reported that there had been 30 cases of “thromboembolic events” among the five million Europeans who have received the jab.

Meanwhile, Guyana’s vaccination rollout has intensified this week with the vaccination being offered to elderly persons over the age of 60 in addition to the frontline healthcare workers who were being vaccinated since the beginning.

In light of the blood clot reports, Dr. Anthony noted, “We are not concerned because if you go back and look at the incident, there was one case where somebody had some clotting problems but when it was further investigated, it was totally unrelated to the vaccination.”

He also mentioned that the European Regulatory authority stated clearly that there was no link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and the clotting problem that was discovered.

“Since there is no link, there is no reason to be concerned about it,” the Health Minister said, adding: “Globally, with the AstraZeneca vaccine and the Sinopharm vaccines, we don’t expect adverse events because not much has been recorded in the global scientific literature.”

He, however, underscored that the local health authorities have a ‘pharmaco-vigilance committee’ that is monitoring Guyana’s vaccination rollout for adverse reactions to the vaccines. If such reactions are recorded, he emphasised that Guyana is obligated to report it to the international authorities.

So far, however, there have been no significant adverse reactions recorded. The usual side effects of getting vaccinated — soreness at the injection site, fevers and headaches — are the effects that have been reported thus far.