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SENIOR HEALTH OFFICIALS answered questions last night about the implications of new advice on the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine would have on Ireland’s vaccine strategy and the lifting of Covid restrictions.
NIAC has recommended that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine be given only to people aged over 60 after reports of rare blood clotting events emerged.
Those rare blood clotting events occur in 4-10 cases in every million AZ vaccine doses administered, in which one person may die.
The HSE has cancelled AstraZeneca vaccine appointments due from today onwards, and is to consider how the announcement will affect the vaccine rollout over the coming days.
Here’s what we know so far.
The risk of blood clots versus the risk of Covid
Outlining the decision to limit the use of the vaccine to over 60s only, NIAC chair Professor Karina Butler said last night that someone aged 60-64 was 85 times more likely to die of Covid-19 than to have any clotting event from the vaccine – that includes all clotting events reported, and not just the rare thrombosis.
People aged 55-59 are 48 times more likely to die of Covid-19 than get a blood clot.
Among the 20-30 age group, the risk of dying from Covid was twice as likely, than to develop any clotting event related to the AstraZeneca vaccine, with the latter as a worst-case scenario.
Butler added that these figures only covered the most extreme possible result of contracting Covid-19, death, and didn’t take into account the “burdens” of Covid: the likelihood of getting hospitalised or being admitted to ICU with Covid, or the long-term effects of Covid-19, also known as long Covid.
The overall risk is taken from the EU regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The Covid risk figures are taken from the Irish data on Covid-19.
Dr Niamh O’Connell also pointed out that of Covid-19 patients who are hospitalised, 8% experience clotting, and 27% of those who go into ICU could get a clot – though it was stressed that these were different clots to the rare ones linked to the AZ vaccine.
So can only 60-69-year-old get the AstraZeneca vaccine now?
No. The AstraZeneca vaccine was approved for use for the whole population before being limited to only under 70s over concerns about clinical trials not having enough data of the vaccine in over 65s.
However, those reports were subsequently reviewed and AstraZeneca was rolled out to over 70s again.
So, since that announcement, AstraZeneca is approved for “routine use” in people aged 60 and over.
The HSE is to decide whether over 70s will continue to receive the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines as the default, or whether there will be a reallocation of vaccines.
Why is the limit of the AstraZeneca jab to over 30s in the UK, but over 60s here in Ireland?
Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn stressed that although they are recommending the AstraZeneca vaccine for use over 60s, they could have put the limit at a lower age.
It was due to an abundance of caution that it wasn’t, he said.
He and Dr Lorraine Nolan of the HPRA pointed out that the AstraZeneca vaccine is still effective at stopping a significant proportion of the population from dying of Covid-19.
The reason the advice is changing, they added, is because they are in the “lucky” position of having other effective Covid-19 vaccines to choose from.
Can I choose what vaccine I get?
No.
There is no picking and choosing what vaccine you want, Professor Butler said.
For the age cohort specifically aged above 60, if you get offered an AstraZeneca vaccine, the advice is to accept that vaccine.
Speaking about how people should take what vaccine they’re offered, Dr Ronan Glynn said:
“If someone aged 65 is thinking of taking this vaccine if its offered to them in the coming weeks, versus waiting for the summer when there’s a surplus of other vaccines, I would highly, strongly recommend that they take what they are being offered now.”
“What’s being offered is a very safe, very effective vaccine for their age cohort. The risks of them catching Covid-19… and ending up dying of that disease are far, far, far higher than any potential risk on receipt of one of these vaccines.”
Professor Karina Butler, Chair of National Immunisation Advisory Committee, says people will not have a choice of #Covid19 vaccines. Acting CMO Dr @ronan_glynn urges people to take the vaccines they are offered | https://t.co/FgLRDCPUYJ pic.twitter.com/ebbTa9THm8
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) April 12, 2021
Can I still get the AstraZeneca vaccine if I’m under 60?
From today, all AstraZeneca vaccinations are paused, while the HSE comes up with an operational plan based on the new advice.
Professor Karina Butler said that she can’t speak for the programme on whether it would be “practical”, but said that NIAC’s recommendation is that the AstraZeneca vaccine can be given to those aged under 60 if they are made aware of the risks and an individual assessment is made for that person’s situation.
Why the delay between first and second doses for some people who have had the first AZ dose?
Health officials said that people under the age of 60 and with no conditions should be confident that the vaccine is safe and effective.
The reasoning for the delay between first and second doses being extended from 12 weeks to 16, was to reassure people as much as possible that the vaccine is safe.
Over 800,000 people in the UK have received a second AstraZeneca dose without any evidence of adverse events, Professor Butler said.
Germany and France have also begun to give mRNA vaccines as second doses to people who received their first AstraZeneca dose, and NIAC is monitoring how effective that approach will be, “so we will have more certainty” around that.
Are women under 60 more at risk?
Although initial studies suggested that it was mostly women under the age of 60 who experienced adverse blood clotting after receiving the vaccine, NIAC chair Professor Karina Butler said that this could be because it has been primarily given to healthcare workers, who are women aged under 60.
She noted that in the UK, the 79 rare blood clotting incidents of 30 million AstraZeneca doses administered were among men and women more evenly.
I’ve recently had the AstraZeneca vaccine – what should I do?
Dr Niamh O’Connell outlined the symptoms that people should keep a look out for – but added that these mightn’t necessarily be symptoms of a blood clot either:
The symptoms are: a persistent or severe headache, particularly if it is accompanied by a weakness in your leg or blurred vision. Other symptoms to watch out for are shortness of breath or a pain in your chest or tummy, or ‘pin-prick’ bruising.
Dr Ronan Glynn added that these rare blood clotting events tend to appear between four days and up to two weeks after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine.
So there is no reason for the vast majority of those who have received AstraZeneca to worry – as they are past this time frame.
For those who are still within that time frame, it’s worth remembering that the incidence of these rare blood clotting events is extremely low: it’s 4-10 cases per 1 million doses administered, one of whom may die.
Have there been cases in Ireland?
The HPRA is still only aware of one suspected case of a rare blood clotting event – but it hasn’t been confirmed as an adverse event as a result of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Dr Lorraine Nolan confirmed there was still one ‘case of special interest’, but didn’t confirm the details of the person’s condition, due to patient and data privacy reasons.
She did, however, say that as of now, there has been no reported incident of adverse events of low platelets and a clotting event together, which is the rare clotting incident associated with the Covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccine.
Dr Nolan also pointed out that European regulators were the first to become aware of this blood clotting event, and that when they began distributing the vaccine out to the population, they were “open” to the possibility of rare adverse events.
Dr Nolan said that Ireland’s population is so small that a rare event like this may not be spotted unless they looked at data abroad, as was done in this case with European and global data.
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A couple of things were learned. You cannot have a U.N. force that is purely devoted to peacekeeping. They have to have the ability to enforce peace and not take a step back and watch. To this day the Canadian general (Romeo Daillane) is haunted by his inability to do anything except on a personal level in Rwanda.
If you have a force there is no point sending in a force not willing or able to undertake these tasks. General Daillane had a force of 2,500 men. 1,100 of these men were Bangladeshi who were utter cowards and didi everything in their power to not leave their bases. At least the Belgian and Ghanaian forces under the U.N. mandate were prepared to act until Kofi Annan said no. When the Belgian government took their forces out, Daillane could do nothing.
Another lesson was that Kofi Annan had to be the worst reader of reports who ever held a position at the U.N. The same guy a couple of years later became Secretary General. The mind boggles at that one.
A few good people could and did make a difference. Senegal Captain, Mbye Diagne under the noses of the Interhamwe managed to save 600 people. He was blown up by a mortar bomb at the end of May, at a roadblock. Laura Lane at the U.S. Embassy managed to rescue some and got them out by convoy to Burundi. Carl Wilkins (A 7th Day Adventist missionary) saved many hundreds through a network he managed quickly to set up. Gen Daillane and his deputy from Ghana, Henry Anyidoho saved many people and the head of the Red Cross mission Philippe Gaillard was heroic in his rescue attempts. It is a miracle he survived. Medicins San Frontiers were one of the few groups who begged and pleaded for help.
The last lesson to learn is that this can happen again so easily. Who is to say it is not already happening in C.A.R..Most of these murders that escalate to genocide start with unsubstantiated reports. We are hearing these reports even now from the C.A.R.
Me
Agreed Damian, the genocide continues in Syria, granted it’s complicated but millions displaced and 100000 dead. And guess what, the international community sits back. Without making light of this Eddie Izzard has a great perspective on this, kill your own and nobody cares.
Jesus, wot sum kids and families have went thru on this planet doesnt bear thinking about. Puts my petty problems into perspective thats for sure
Was in college with a Rwandan lady. She was directly affected by this. She told a story one day..moved most of us tears
This is one of the most devout RELIGIOUS countries on earth
What we have learned ?? People can carry out the most horrific and inhumane acts in the name of RELIGION ,,,
the Vaticans response to this genocide ?? NOTHING
RELIGION KILLS
This had nothing to do with religion you clown. But sure go ahead and dismiss the violent deaths if nearly a million people as long as it helps your cause.
Also ignore the fact that Muslims in Rwanda were some of the bravest people during the genocide and protected thousands.
Or the fact that the only Americans left in the country during the genocide was a devout Christian aid worker and his family.
And ignore the fact that religion had NOTHING to do with the conflict.
Probably an atheist.they just love to tell everyone else that they are wrong for having faith.
I don’t think the world had really learnt a whole lot since and before rewanda.
Genocide is still happening everyday.
@Alan
Who were the Cockroaches ??? and what distinguished them,,,YOU MORON
@Ciaran
There is a documentary you may be interested on RTE tonight at 11:05 about Christine Buckley one of the MILLIONS of Children physically and mentally abuse by the abhorent religions,,
GET IT INTO YE,,,
@Greg, the Cockroaches, or Inyenzi as they were called, was how Hutu extremists such as those in the Hutu Power movement or the Interahamwe militias referred to the Tutsis. Strangely enough, there were very minor and largely superficial differences between Tutsis and Hutus…both were mostly Catholic, both spoke the same language, and if it were not for ethnic identity introduced by the Belgians in the 1930s, the differences between them would be hardly distinguishable. While religion has definitely played major roles in a lot of genocides, the Rwandan genocide had nothing to do with religious convictions, and rather with superficial differences which were exploited by elites in order to extend their power
@Ryan
They are valid points but in the history of Rwanda the churches flip – flopped between the ruling regimes( as they always do- see Hiltler ,Stalin, ) which ingrained the bigotry and ethnic divisions
This is a country where only 2 % claim to be of no Reiligion coincidence ?? I think NOT
If this was a secular society this would NEVER have happened ,,,
I believe that with all my heart
I think if people hadn’t been looking for power, then we could say it wouldn’t have happened. People will look for power through any means possible, and social structures like religion, politics…even big business are always likely to be abused in attempt to wield power. Of course religion plays a major aspect in violence for sure, but I would argue that the violence would not abate if religion was taken out of the picture, and if you actually look at the conflict in Rwanda, religious imagery hardly comes in, especially since both the perpetrators and victims of the violence were largely of the same religion. If you are saying that religion was the reason why the Hutus and Tutsis were at each others throats, I think you are missing the whole essence of the conflict, including the role of European colonialism.
This is by no means giving religious institutions a get out of jail card…genocide in Yugoslavia and even the violence in the North have used religious imagery, but trying to portray religion as the base of all the worlds problems completely glosses over all the other factors which play a role in genocide.
the only things we learned is that the UN is not fit for purpose ,
and that America and the west will NOT help , unless you have something of interest to them
What did the ‘East’ do to help?
There’s a difference though, Jeremy. No country in the ‘East’ proclaims itself to be the world’s policeman like the US in the ‘West’ does. This self-described force for liberty and world stability sat back and watch Rwanda burn, but has intervened in many other nations for far less compelling reasons, ostensibly to establish peace, when it suited their geopolitical agenda. It’s hypocritical.
If anything, the west helped the genocide and its perpetrators, with France having provided arms to the regime and the international community running refugee camps in Zaire, despite the fact that the camps were largely run by those who perpetrated the genocide, and who used the refugees as a shield from justice.
Rwanda thought me one thing we humans are as dangerous as cancer. The human race is a planet killer.
Mistakes? The world made huge mistakes? The world watched wholesale slaughter based on ethnicity. That’s not a mistake.
That Don Cheadle is a fine actor.
Joking aside, Rwanda has taught me that sometimes people are no better than the dogs on the street or, in this case, the ‘cockroaches’ that they accused their brethren of being.
It’s a bleak outlook really.
It would be good if France would take some accountability for its support of the Hutu regime both before and during the genocide. France (and other western countries like the US) were aware of the genocide plans yet did nothing, presumably because of legacy colonial “interests”. Well done to Rwandan president Paul Kagame for not letting them forget it. France are reacting with that inimitable kind of condescending outrage unique to them that confirms Kagame has hit a nerve.
Not to go there on your holidays !
What have we learned? Absolutely nothing – and unless you have oil, you are on your own.
We have learned that in a good number of African countries they place so little value on life that they will happily hack men women and children to death with machetes.. rape babies as a cure for aids and see no issue with it at all. Yet we keep feeding them and propping up dictatorships and dictators like Mugabe.
It should be confined to the history books as a lesson to us all not to let it happen again but we never learn and as I’m writing this thousands of people are fleeing to the borders of Chad, Camaroon and the DRC to escape a similar fate in CAR, african soil runs red with the spilt blood of it’s people while the world turns a blind eye, there are not enough heavy hearts in the world to end such madness, mores the pity!
A Recap of what happened in Rwanda
Million Voices – Wyclef Jean: http://youtu.be/m90rhKobovE
(warning contains graphic scenes)
Ne jamais oublier! xxx
(Never forget)
This just shows us that its a disguting world we live in at times.
I would say it was the worst thing ive ever seen or heard about in my entire lifetime, on the news of course.
You’d make a killing there as a prosthetics sales man ..
Africa..be a grand place except its
Stuffed with africans…..
We should always be grateful and thankful everyday we wake up alive and strong …. I myself witnessed post election violence back home in Kenya ……. And won’t want to see search horrific fight again
what’s been learned? unless you have oil, nobody gives a damn what happens.
have your say