KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica says there were no nationals suffering from a rare blood clot that has been linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine that had been used to help countries worldwide deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton and the Chief Medical officer (CMO) Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie during the news conference on Wednesday.Both Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton and the Chief Medical officer (CMO) Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, sought to reassure Jamaicans about the safety of the vaccine, as they fielded questions during the post-Cabinet news conference on Wednesday.
The CMO told reporters that it is estimated that over six million lives had been saved at the height of the pandemic due to the vaccine, adding “all medications do have side effects and very early in the clinical studies that were done, the serious side effects, the rare side effects of blood clots were not discovered at that time.
“But certainly in the process of any new drug being released on the market, does not only stop at clinical studies,” she said, noting that after the drug has been in use, there is post market surveys to continue to ascertain whether there is any side effect from the vaccine.
She said as far back as 2021 “ we would have been alerted to the possibility of side effects including clots associated with AstraZeneca”.
Tufton told reporters that “there are no reports to date of any cases in Jamaica of persons, Jamaicans, suffering that rare side effect involving the AstraZeneca”.
Earlier this month, AstraZeneca announced it was withdrawing the vaccine worldwide after the company admitted in court documents that it can cause a rare and dangerous side effect.
AstraZeneca admitted in court documents that the vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS” Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which is a very rare syndrome which occurs when a person has blood clots (thrombosis) together with a low platelet count (thrombocytopenia).
It has been linked to at least 81 deaths in the UK as well as hundreds of serious injuries.
“We are incredibly proud of the role Vaxzevria played in ending the global pandemic. According to independent estimates, over 6.5 million lives were saved in the first year of use alone and over three billion doses were supplied globally.
“Our efforts have been recognised by governments around the world and are widely regarded as being a critical component of ending the global pandemic,” the company added.
“As multiple, variant COVID-19 vaccines have since been developed, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines. This has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied. AstraZeneca has therefore taken the decision to initiate withdrawal of the marketing authorisations for Vaxzevria within Europe.
“We will now work with regulators and our partners to align on a clear path forward to conclude this chapter and significant contribution to the COVID-19 pandemic,” it added.
Tufton said Jamaica was comfortable with the risk that would normally be applied with vaccines based on recommendations coming from the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Remember the context, vaccines were short …as CMO said, vaccine was known to come with side effect in a very small percentage of times and those side effects would be most noted within three months of taking the vaccine”.
He said, “we have clinically on record no report of side effects and those who would have taken (it) would be highly likely, even not impossible to have that side effect now, years after taking the vaccine.
“We are no longer distributing the vaccine,” he said noting that when the company sent out the notification, it was a notification to discontinue production and there seem to have been some extreme interpretation that it was a notification based on a recognition that the vaccine was somehow going to create an adverse reaction to people who have taken it,” Tufton said.
The CMO also noted that people were concerned about about their health given that they had taken the vaccine.
She said they were asking “if I had received AstraZeneca then in 2021 and early 2022, am I still going to have the possibility of these side effects?’ and the answer is no. The likelihood of developing those side effects is three days to three months,” Dr Bisasor-McKenzie said.
She said that as other vaccines became available there was an even further decline in the use of AstraZeneca, which led to the eventual halt in the manufacture and production of the vaccine.
“No, we are not administering the AstraZeneca vaccine anymore simply because it has not been on the market,” she told reporters.
