COVID vaccine ‘may’ have caused clots but no official action

An Adelaide woman has been told her blood clots were probably caused by her COVID jab but it will not be officially recorded.

An Adelaide woman who suffered blood clots following the AstraZeneca vaccination will not be officially listed as a victim of the jab despite her doctor telling the family he believes there is a link.

Robyn and Jerry Adams were told the clots appear caused by the vaccine but the case does not include all the strict criteria for it to be listed under World Health Organisation protocols.

Mrs Adams, 61, felt ill after the jab and went to the Royal Adelaide Hospital when her GP phoned her at home telling her scans had detected three abdominal clots.

However, she waited five hours to be treated, despite having the GP paperwork which had already diagnosed the clots, and did not get moved to a bed until eight hours after arriving.

The family spoke to The Advertiser in the hope their story would prevent others enduring similar long waits for vital care when arriving at an emergency department.

Robyn Adams and her husband Jerry outside the RAH. Picture: Brenton Edwards

On Wednesday the couple returned to the RAH for results of tests and were greeted personally by Central Adelaide Local Health Network chief executive Lesley Dwyer who apologised for the delay in treatment.

However, the source of the clots will remain a mystery despite the strong circumstantial link to the vaccine — Mrs Adams is not in the under-50 age group which has been singled out for risks for the extremely rare clots.

SA Health deputy chief public health officer Dr Emily Kirkpatrick told advertiser.com.au: “The case was reviewed by our medical experts and, in line with national processes, was reported to the TGA.

“According to the Haematology Society of Australia & New Zealand and ATAGI guidelines, the case does not fit the definition of TTS (clots) and was found not to be directly linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

Despite this, the couple believe they are linked.

“The doctor said he thinks they are linked but the symptoms and test results do not strictly meet the guidelines so they won’t call it a confirmed case,” Mr Adams said.

“The doctor said reporting such a case needs to strictly accord with these guidelines so he can’t do it, but told us it is definitely linked.

“The reality is AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson who use a similar platform are working on understanding the whole blood clotting issue and I expect more information about it will be coming out.”

Mrs Adams will be on blood thinners for at least six months but now is in good health.

The couple’s treatment highlighted on advertiser.com.au resulted in a public apology by Premier Steven Marshall in parliament although the only contact the couple subsequently received was from a consumer adviser at the hospital who said executives were aware of the delay in care.

The couple said “staff at the RAH described our horrific experience as ‘normal’ ” — it occurred amid record ambulance ramping and major hospitals regularly treating more people than their ED capacity.

However they appreciated Ms Dwyer making the effort to see them when they returned for test results.

“She apologised to us and said it was a failure on their part, and said they are working on it but there are no quick fixes,” Mr Adams said.

At 3pm on Wednesday four of Adelaide’s seven major hospitals’ EDs were on code white – treating more than their capacity — and three were on code red, the next level down.

There were 79 people who had been treated but were stuck in EDs waiting for a bed, including nine waiting for more than 24 hours.