A weekly blog with links to current vaccine news

AstraZeneca COVID-19 injection

Breaking news!

A top official at the European Medicines Agency says there’s a causal link between AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine and rare blood clots. However the agency states that it’s unclear what the connection is and maintains the stance that the benefits of taking the shot still outweighs the risks of getting the ‘virus’.

Marco Cavaleri, head of health threats and vaccine strategy at the Amsterdam-based agency, told Rome’s Il Messaggero newspaper on Tuesday,  that the European Union’s medicines regulator was preparing to make a more definitive statement on the topic this week. He stated:

It is becoming more and more difficult to affirm that there isn’t a cause-and-effect relationship between AstraZeneca vaccines and the very rare cases of blood clots associated with a low level of platelets.

A local case

A 44-year-old man was admitted to Box Hill Hospital in Melbourne after developing thrombosis in abdominal blood vessels seven days after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine. According to the ABC news:

 He had low platelets, but he had clots in his liver, in his spleen and in his gut in general.  So he fits the description of vaccine-induced pro-thrombotic thrombocytopenia.

And yet there is no sign as yet that the vaccine will be suspended here in Australia.

What is Australia’s position on the experimental jab currently being injected into the arms of Australians?

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) warn:

People who develop severe, persistent headaches or abdominal pain 4-20 days after receiving AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine should be sent to hospital to investigate potential clotting. It is important that clinicians refer patients to hospital for further investigation and specialist consultation, including with a haematologist if they suspect cerebral venous sinus thrombosis … or another severe thrombotic complication with thrombocytopenia.

There has been no suspension of the rollout despite the suffering of the Melbourne man and the fact that of the 31,786 people who responded to an sms/email about their health in the three days after their first dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 jab, 67.3% reported any adverse event and 25.4% reported missing work, study or routine duties for a short period.

Figures as at 28 march 2021

More tragic deaths from thrombosis in young women following the AstraZeneca injection

From Health Impact News

Two more Italian teachers are dead after receiving AstraZeneca viral vector shots against COVID-19. Mrs. Augusta Turiaco received the first dose of the AstraZeneca shot on March 11, according to daily newspaper La Stampa. The 55-year-old Messina music teacher published a new Facebook profile photo that day, letting everyone know she was “vaccinated”.

But the situation quickly escalated. Mrs. Turiaco immediately felt ill after the shot. Severe headaches persisted for days, to the point that that she could no longer function. She was admitted to Policlinico Gaetano Martino on March 24. Doctors diagnosed her with cerebral hemorrhage due to thrombosis. In other words, it was yet another blood clotting issue caused by the AstraZeneca shot.

Mrs. Turiaco was placed in a medically-induced coma. Doctors performed brain surgery to try and save her. But it was too late. She was brain dead on or around March 31. Her family released a statement, encouraging other people to take the AstraZeneca shot despite their loved one’s death.

Meanwhile Ms. Cinzia Pennino was a science professor at Don Bosco Institute in Palermo. She received her first AstraZeneca shot on or around March 17, according to Sicilian newspaper Giornale di Sicilia. The 46-year-old was admitted to Paolo Giaccone Polyclinic in Palermo on March 24 in critical condition.

Intensive care doctors diagnosed her with “extensive deep thrombosis.” Yes, more blood clots. She also had a history of severe allergic reactions to vaccines. Ms. Pennino died the following morning. Palermo health authorities issued the proverbial “no correlation between the AstraZeneca and the woman’s death” statement.

Back home and over the course of the recent Queensland Lockdown

Queensland’s vaccine rollout ramped up among frontline healthcare workers as authorities insist inoculations ‘on track’

The Chief Health Officer has mandated that from March 31 only healthcare workers who have been vaccinated can treat COVID-19 patients in Queensland. The state’s health officials have said 89 per cent of frontline health workers have already received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

So far Queensland is the only state to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine to nurses. This mandate concerns those whose normal work location is in an area where diagnosed persons are treated or accommodated such as an infectious disease ward or an intensive care unit or an area acting as  low-intensity COVID-19 care model, including clinical and non-clinical roles. The mandate includes workers at quarantine facilities and persons who transport a diagnosed person by ambulance.

This is a very dangerous move and one which other states may also follow.  The federal government has stated many times that COVID-19 vaccines will not be mandated but the state in this case Queensland has now mandated this vaccine to certain workers.

An item of rare good news