According to the Department of Health, it has yet to receive any report of unexpected blood clotting among those who were inoculated with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.
“Sa ngayon naman wala pa tayong nano-note na ganitong mga blood clotting or other adverse events with regard to AstraZeneca vaccine,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing on Friday.
This statement was in response to the decision of public health authorities to temporarily stop administering the vaccine to people under 60 years old after regulators from Europe discovered a link between the coronavirus shot and a few cases of blood clots with low platelet count.
Food and Drug Administration Director General Eric Domingo said this is a good time to look into the effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine since the Philippines has almost used up all its supply and the administration of the second dose will be only after 8 to 12 weeks, just in time for the delivery of the next batch from the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility. Vergeire said all 525,600 doses of the vaccine were already distributed to vaccination centers.
“Ito iyong magandang panahon na aralin itong mga reports na ito kasi wala na tayong AstraZeneca vaccines [stocks] talagang paubos na at iyong next batch darating pa lamang possibly towards the end of the month,” Domingo said.
