British health officials said there have been 30 cases of blood clots after the use of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, according to Reuters.
- The researchers said there were 22 reports of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, which is a rare blood clotting issue, and eight reports of other clotting events for a total of 30 cases, Reuters reports.
- Overall, there have been 18.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine given out. This means the blood clots reported occurred in 0.000001% of the total number of people who received COVID-19 vaccines in the United Kingdom.
- In total, the U.K. found that seven people died from the blood clots, according to the Financial Times.
The British health officials said the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks of getting blood clots, according to Reuters.
Per DW, it’s still unclear whether or not the AstraZeneca vaccine itself creates the blood clots or not.
Why would the vaccine cause blood clots?
The Wall Street Journal reports that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine “could trigger an autoimmune disorder causing blood to clot in the brain, which would offer an explanation for isolated incidents across Europe in recent weeks.”
Does the U.S. use the vaccine?
No. The United States has not approved the COVID-19 vaccine for distribution, as I wrote for the Deseret News.