North Macedonia has registered a case of a thrombotic event in a 28-year-old girl who had received a first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Serbia. The girl has been admitted for hospital treatment on Tuesday, Health Minister Venko Filipche said Wednesday.
He noted that the thrombotic effect has developed within six to seven days after the vaccination, and the girl had no previous health conditions.
As regards the AstraZeneca vaccine and in light of Tuesday’s reports from Germany and Canada over cases of blood clots in people under 60, Filipche pointed out, we have decided to urge caution until receiving a definitive confirmation that the vaccine is safe.
The Health Minister noted that it was very difficult to say whether there’s a certain exact time frame in which to expect any developments.
“More news are coming from Germany today that the vaccination will continue, but only at the discretion of doctors, and this is why we want to urge caution. We’re set for meetings today with members of the Commission on Safety within the Drug Agency to exchange relevant information and possibly contact the European Medicines Agency and Germany’s Ministry of Health. Reports involve thrombotic events linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine in younger people, as platelets activate and this causes blood clots. These are extremely rare cases of one in 120,000 or one in a million. However, even though cases are rare, we’d like to exercise great caution,” said Filipche.
Given that part of the citizens recently received vaccines in Serbia, he added, for the time being there are no recommendations as to any preventive steps that need to be taken in case of having received a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
“These are still very rare cases. As regards booster shots, citizens will receive them according to the recommendations we expect in the coming period. We’ll start with the other categories of citizens and collect data to continue only when we’re certain that this vaccine can be used in younger people. Having this in mind, as well as the positions of the medicines agencies, Germany and Canada, we’ll remain vigilant and see in which direction to proceed,” Filipche pointed out.
He stressed that he believed the vaccine benefits still outweigh the risks.
“We won’t rush, we’re waiting for all the recommendations from the official institutions, perhaps also a recommendation from the manufacturer,” said Health Minister Filipche.
