Coronavirus: Australia reports first death from blood clots linked to AstraZeneca vaccine; Japan widens curbs
- A 48-year-old New South Wales woman died four days after receiving the shot
- Japan extended restrictions to 10 regions on Friday as a fourth wave of Covid-19 cases spreads
Australia’s Vaccine Safety Investigation Group (VSIG), which held a late meeting on Friday, concluded the New South Wales woman’s death was likely linked to the vaccination, the Therapeutic Goods Administration said in a statement.
“In the absence of an alternative cause for the clinical syndrome, VSIG believed that a causative link to vaccination should be assumed at this time,” the TGA said.
This was the third instance of the rare blood clots linked to the vaccine in Australia with the other two patients recovering well, the TGA added.
The woman died four days after receiving the vaccination.
The TGA said her case had been complicated by underlying medical conditions, including diabetes, “as well as some atypical features.”
There had been at least 885,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines administered in Australia so far, equating to a frequency of instance of blood clot in every 295,000 cases, the TGA said.
“The overall number ... so far has been no higher than the expected background rate for the more common type of blood clots,” it said.