Malaysia continues to buy AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines as blood clot link not proven

A number of European countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain have recently suspended the use of AstraZeneca vaccines due to concerns that it could cause blood clots. Despite the recent reports, Malaysia will continue with its procurement of the AstraZeneca vaccine which is among the 5 vaccines under the country’s immunisation programme.

Khairy Jamaluddin, the minister in charge of coordinating Malaysia’s vaccination effort has said that there’s no data to indicate any direct link between the vaccine and the reports of blood cloths in people which resulted in deaths in a few countries. He said that the stand on the AstraZeneca vaccines remains the same. Khairy also said that the ministry would study the clinical data on the incidents that have occurred abroad to enable experts to draw conclusions on the vaccine use.

Malaysia’s National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) has recently given conditional approval for the UK-based AstraZeneca vaccine along with China’s Sinovac vaccines. Health Minister Dr Adham Baba said that the NPRA conducts thorough studies on any COVID-19 vaccine and they have looked into the quality and safety aspect of AstraZeneca vaccine. He added that the NPRA will scrutinise all related safety issues on this vaccine further.

As reported by the BBC, experts say that there were no more than the number of blood-clot incidents that have been reported within the general population. About 17 million people in Europe and the UK have received the AstraZeneca vaccine and less than 40 cases of blood clots incidents have been reported last week.

The WHO said that there’s no evidence that the incidents are caused by the vaccine and it is important that the vaccination campaigns continue so that we can continue to save lives and stem severe disease from the virus. WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said “As soon as WHO has gained a full understanding of these events, the findings and any unlikely changes to current recommendations will be immediately communicated to the public”.

At the moment, Malaysia is using Pfizer vaccines and it will start using Sinovac vaccines from 18th March 2021. Khairy Jamaluddin will be the first to receive the Sinovac jab as promised earlier to show faith in the NPRA.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha is the first person in Southeast Asia to receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine today. He told reporters that he’s doing this to boost confidence in the vaccine. The AstraZeneca vaccines will be produced locally in Thailand from June with 61 million doses reserved for the local population.

[ SOURCE 2, IMAGE SOURCE ]