AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine has been recalled globally after admitting it causes adverse side effects, but an Australian expert said fear of the vaccine caused more deaths than it saved.
The Australian Therapeutic Goods Authority suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in April 2023 and the Anglo-Swedish producer withdrew it globally on Tuesday.
Just over a week ago, AstraZeneca admitted that the vaccine, sold under the name Vaxzevria, can cause fatal blood clots and low platelet counts.
“Overall its safety profile is not as high as Pfizer’s because of clotting, but we need to keep this in perspective,” Professor Peter Collignon told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.
“For women aged 30 to 50, the chance of dying from receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine is 1 in 40,000, but the overall death rate from receiving it is 1 in 100,000.”
AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine has been recalled globally after admitting it causes adverse side effects, but an Australian expert said fear of the vaccine caused more deaths than it saved.
Researchers believe this rare side effect is because the modified cold virus hiding in the injection has an adverse effect on platelets in the blood, causing them to clot.
Professor Collignon, who was one of Australia’s most trusted voices during the Covid crisis, noted that some commonly available medications, such as aspirin, have similar mortality rates.
He said it was impossible to know all the possible side effects of taking the AstraZeneca vaccine before it was available.
“You can’t test 100,000 people in a trial, so it’s important to do surveillance after a drug is available,” he said.
“The side effect is real, we need to know these things, but it is a very rare side effect.”
Professor Collignon said that at the height of the pandemic, if an 80-year-old caught Covid they had a 1 in 10 chance of dying, but it would have been 1 in 100,000 if they had taken AstraZeneca. vaccine’.
He said people put their health at risk during the pandemic by not taking the AstraZeneca vaccine even though it was available.
“People waiting for the Pfizer vaccine caused a few hundred more deaths in Australia than we needed because of adverse publicity,” said Professor Collignon, a professor at the Australian National University School of Medicine.
The admission of AstraZeneca’s link to blood clots came through court documents in a class-action lawsuit in the United Kingdom seeking £100 million for dozens of victims of its side effects.
The request to withdraw the vaccine was made on March 5 and came into effect on May 7.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has provisionally approved the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Australia for people aged 18 and over as a primary course from 15 February 2021 and as a booster from 8 February 2022.
During that time, Pfizer and Moderna provided Covid vaccines to Australia which were recommended instead of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
In June 2021, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (ATAGI) recommended that Australians over 60 years of age avoid taking Vaxzevria.
While Australians have not been administered Vaxzevria since its discontinuation, it remains provisionally approved by the Department of Health.
The last batch in Australia reportedly expired on March 21, 2023.
The Australian Therapeutic Goods Authority suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine (pictured) in April 2023, and the Anglo-Swedish producer withdrew it globally on Tuesday.
Professor Peter Collignon (pictured) said people put their health at risk during the pandemic by not taking the AstraZeneca vaccine even though it was available.
The ATAGI warned that fatal blood clotting was around 3.1 per 100,000 for people over 50 years of age and 1.8 per 100,000 for people under 50 years of age.
In September 2021, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged Australians over 60 to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine rather than wait for Pfizer doses.
“I encourage everyone, particularly Australians over 60, to go out and get vaccinated,” he said.
“Getting vaccinated can save your life, protect your family and means returning to a more normal life with family and friends and seeing your grandchildren.”