Clotting death amid new vaccine reaction fears

A 52-year-old NSW woman became the third Australian to die after receiving an AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

As vaccinations increase more serious reactions to the AstraZeneca shot have emerged.

The TGA reported that a 52-year-old NSW woman had died after developing blood clots in her brain with low platelets – consistent with the syndrome thrombosis with thrombocytopaenia (TTS) – after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. The woman developed a blood clot in her brain associated with haemmorhage.

Chief medical officer Paul Kelly said the death was ­“extremely unfortunate” and an “extremely rare event”. “I will point out that it is only the second death with now over 3.6 million doses of this vaccine being given across Australia,” he said.

The first reported person to die after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine was a 48 year old NSW woman.

Other deaths reported this week included a NSW man, 55, who developed blood clots in his lungs eight days after receiving the jab, and a 78-year-old man from Western Australia who died from multi-organ failure.

The TGA said an expert group could not conclusively determine if the 55-year-old’s death was related to the vaccine.

“The expert group could not conclusively determine if the patient’s death was related to the vaccine, in particular because of the absence of thrombocytopenia. However, it advised that the current criteria for the diagnosis of TTS are likely to evolve as we find out more about this rare condition. If the case definition for TTS changes, this case will be re- evaluated at a later date.”

The 78-year-old man who died suffered multi-organ failure six days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. “The patient had signs of capillary leak, a condition which is often seenin critically ill patient,” a Therapeutic Goods Administration report published Thursday read.

Capillary leak syndrome following vaccination has been observed overseas, but no causal link has been established with the vaccine.

”From the information available, the expert group was unable to establish a link between the vaccine and this patient’s condition as they could not rule out other causes. We continue to work with international regulators to learn more about the possible relationship between the AstraZeneca vaccine and this syndrome,” the TGA said.

Asked about a new reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccine, Professor Kelly said authorities had witnessed a new “rare” syndrome. “We are picking up the mild forms more than anywhere else, in the UK and Europe for example,” he said.

“(TTS syndrome) itself is characterised by low platelets and clotting which is an unusual event as has been described previously. It is an extremely rare combination. In terms of other clots, we’re looking at that.”

Professor Kelly said he ­believed some of effects were not a result of the vaccine.

“The TGA looks at all sorts of things in the period following vaccination and most of those things would have happened anyway and it is not anything related to vaccination. They have not found any link with any other types of clotting with the AstraZeneca vaccine.”

ATAGI on April 8 advised that only those aged over 50 should receive the AstraZeneca vaccine amid reports from around the world of blood clots, with low platelet count in predominantly younger people who received an AstraZeneca shot.

The total number of Australians to have suffered TTS from Covid-19 vaccines is now 48. At least 2198 Australians reported experiencing adverse events following immunisation between May 31 and June 6.