Fact Check: Have There Been Blood-Clotting Cases In India Post-Covishield Jab?

A rare blood clotting condition, after administration of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID vaccine, has been a cause of concern in the UK and other European Union countries. About 10 deaths have been recorded in the UK, most of them being cases of clotting in the brain.

India has also been using that vaccine, which is being manufactured at Pune’s Serum Institute under the brand name of Covishield. A government panel is investigating if there have been any blood clotting problems among those who have received the vaccine. Last month, experts in India had allayed fears of clotting after taking the jab.

However, Christian Medical College (Vellore) Professor Dr Gagandeep Kang is of the view that 320 events of blood clots with low platelet count, similar to the condition seen in European nations, could have happened in India after Covishield was administered, India Today reported.

“When I say that 320 events could have happened, I said this only if our risk was as much as it was in the case of the United Kingdom. If our risk is less, then it couldn’t have happened,” Dr Kang observed.

“Blood clotting is very common. When people have a heart attack or a stroke, it may be because of a blood clot. If you immunise 1 million people and follow them up for one month, many of them will have blood clots and strokes,” she said, adding that there has to be a baseline for the assessment of such events.

“What we need to have is a baseline for blood clots. Then one needs to compare with that the baseline to check if there is an association or not. Let’s say the baseline is 1,000 cases in one million in a month without any vaccination. Then after vaccinating one million people, if 1,000 cases of blood clots have happened, they may be happening by chance,” she explained.

She added that this is an unusual combination where there are blood clots with a low platelet count.

Also Read: AstraZeneca Vaccine & Rare Blood Clots Linked: EMA

Also Read: Blood Clotting Not Linked To AstraZeneca Vaccine: Oxford