Economy

State downplays blood clot report in Covid vaccination

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Health Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE

The government has downplayed reports of blood clotting caused by Covid-19 vaccines as it confirmed that three million people had received the jab.

Chief Administrative Secretary Rashid Aman Wednesday told the National Assembly committee on Health that the government was racing against time to vaccinate at least about 10 million people by December and a further 26 million people by the end of next year.

“We have not seen any case of blood clotting in the country,” Dr Aman said.

His statement follws a recent study on the review of vaccines carried out by a team from Oxford University that found out that AstraZeneca jab raises the risk of blood clots and another serious condition that can cause bleeding.

In their study published in the British Medical Journal, the team found out an increased risk of stroke after the Pfizer jab - but again at a much lower rate than after infection.

The team looked at records from more than 29 million people who received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine between December 2020 and April, who were mostly aged over 40, as well as nearly 1.8 million who were infected with the virus.