India probes domestic cases of blood clots linked to AstraZeneca vaccine

A government panel of experts in India is investigating for any domestic cases of blood clotting, even mild ones, as a side effect of the two COVID-19 vaccines being administered in India. India is currently administering AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, which is manufactured by the Serum Institute and branded Covishield, and a shot developed by Bharat Biotech called COVAXIN.

According to Reuters, he review comes after Europe’s drug regulator, the European Medicines Agency, EMA, it found a possible link between AstraZeneca’s vaccine and rare blood clotting issues in adults who had received the shot, although it added the vaccine’s advantages still outweighed the risks

India tahr is struggling to contain a record surge in COVID-19 cases in its second wave, reported 126,789 new cases on Thursday. A source said the investigations were into the side-effects of blood clots that have been seen in people who received Covishield and Covaxin, and even mild cases are being looked into.

Following Europe’s announcement, several countries have announced restrictions on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in younger people. But the vaccine has been widely distributed across the world. On Thursday, the COVAX Facility announced that it had distributed to 38 million doses to 100 countries. Nigeria received 3.92 million doses of the vaccine under the Facility and has rolled out its vaccination campaign across the 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.