AstraZeneca Vaccine May Trigger Blood Clots: Case Distribution

The AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine can cause a number of side effects or Post-Immunization Adverse Events (PIAEs), both mild and severe.

Mild PIAEs include pain, bruising, itching at the injection site, weakness, fever, and headache.

Severe PIAEs include Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), where the recipient may experience blood clots in the brain, liver, intestines, spleen, and a decrease in platelet count.

However, according to the Minister of Health (Menkes) Budi Gunadi Sadikin, TTS PIAE cases are very rare.

Of the 592 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine administered globally, only about 1,500 cases of TTS PIAEs have been found, a ratio of 0.25 cases per 100,000 people.

Minister Budi also stated that these very serious PIAEs generally occur overseas and have not been found in Indonesia.

"These PIAEs are highly dependent on the recipient's genomics or race," said Minister Budi in a working meeting with Commission IX of the DPR (House of Representatives) on Tuesday (21/5/2024).

"(Cases of AstraZeneca TTS PIAEs) are high in the UK and Australia. They haven't been identified in Indonesia and South America," he said.

Minister Budi mentioned that the ratio of TTS PIAEs in the UK and Australia reaches 1 case per 100,000 people.

In other countries, the ratio is lower; in Indonesia, it remains at 0, as shown in the graph.

The following details the data on AstraZeneca vaccine use in several countries, as well as the number and ratio of TTS PIAE cases based on Minister Budi's presentation:

* Australia: 9.6 million vaccine doses; 104 TTS PIAEs; ratio of 1.13 cases per 100,000 people
* UK: 48.7 million vaccine doses; 487 TTS PIAEs; ratio of 1 case per 100,000 people
* Japan: 101,500 vaccine doses; 1 TTS PIAE; ratio of 0.99 cases per 100,000 people
* Thailand: 43.7 million vaccine doses; 7 TTS PIAEs; ratio of 0.02 cases per 100,000 people
* India: 1.7 million vaccine doses; 51 TTS PIAEs; ratio of 0.003 cases per 100,000 people
* Jamaica: 905,000 vaccine doses; 0 TTS PIAEs; ratio of 0 cases per 100,000 people
* Indonesia: 73.9 million vaccine doses; 0 TTS PIAEs; ratio of 0 cases per 100,000 people

"The AstraZeneca vaccine has not been used in Indonesia since October 2022, and until now we have not found anyone affected by PIAEs, especially TTS," said Minister Budi.