COVID-19 Patients at Higher Risk of Blood Clotting Than Those Vaccinated With 1st Dose of Vaccine, Says Study

According to a recent study published in the British Medical Journal, COVID-19 patients stand a higher risk of developing blood clots compared to those vaccinated with COVISHIELD (AstraZeneca) or Pfizer vaccine shots.

A Bloomberg report published by NDTV states that the study was conducted on a large scale and had 29 million participants vaccinated with either AstraZeneca or Pfizer shots between December 2020 and April, as well as 1.7 million COVID-19 patients.

The media report said, “For every 10 million people who receive the first dose of AstraZeneca, about 66 more will suffer from a blood-clotting syndrome than during normal circumstances, according to the study published in the British Medical Journal. This figure compares with 12,614 more incidences recorded in 10 million people who have tested positive for Covid-19.”

The study claimed that COVID patients were almost nine times more likely to have low platelets than people who received the first dose of either vaccine. It further claimed that the virus itself makes patients more prone to strokes than either of the vaccine. Researchers of the University of Oxford conducted the study, but it was done independently and has no links to the team that worked on AstraZeneca.

Ever since AstraZeneca was approved for public use, safety concerns have been raised from various countries, with reports of adverse events, especially blood clotting. In fact, some countries even put the use of the vaccine on hold while others only administered it to the older population as cases of blood clotting was generally reported by younger people. At the same time, the manufacturers have maintained that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks of clotting, which a small minority of people experienced.

This study helps outline the importance of vaccines, as those who don’t get vaccinated stand a much higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and consequently suffering from blood clotting.

Although a possible link has been found between blood clotting and vaccines previously, this study did not corroborate the link.

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