The clots raising serious concerns are occurring in the veins that drain blood from the brain — and, somewhat strangely, happened at the same time as people were experiencing low levels of platelets, the tiny cell fragments in our blood that help form clots in the first place to stop us from bleeding. Lauren Pelley is a CBC News reporter based in Toronto. Two leading COVID-19 vaccines are being linked to rare, serious blood clots, with the bulk of cases being women. CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. Currently, Health Canada doesn't have any restrictions on the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine and deems it safe for use, though advisory committee recommendations followed by the provinces stipulate it should only be used for people 55 and older. A … Across Canada, more than 700,000 people have now received the AstraZeneca vaccine. Add some “good” to your morning and evening. The U.S. is believed to have tens of millions of AstraZeneca doses either stored or in various stages of production as part of a contract with the company, but has refused to let most of those doses leave the country so far. The AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine has been in the headlines recently over concerns that some people were developing blood clots after receiving the shot. There are growing concerns around blood clottingfrom at least two different COVID-19vaccines. When it comes to the blood clot reports following Johnson & Johnson vaccinations, information is limited. The leading theory behind the blood abnormalities associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine traces to a case from late February. Web Content Writer, CP24, A vial of AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 sits on a general practitioner's table during a vaccination campaign in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. man uses pandemic as motivation to lose 150lbs, Clara Hughes helps boost vaccine confidency in Canada, Driver dies after giant road sign knocked over, Alligator disrupts Toronto FC training session, Vaccine certificates 'to be expected': PM, Child's death due to COVID-19 shocks community, Toronto mansion selling for $45M currently the most expensive home on the market, Ontario reports more than 3,400 COVID-19 cases as test positivity rate drops, Hamilton, Ont. In each case, the potentially deadly type of blood clot in the brain — called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, or CVST — was seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets. Adenovirus vaccines developed by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca have been associated with unusual blood clots in very rare cases. The risk of getting blood clots from COVID-19 itself is far higher than from the vaccine. A week after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, a 37-year-old woman in Norway went to the emergency department with fever and persistent headaches. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made a joint announcement on Tuesday, revealing that out of nearly seven million doses administered, the half-dozen women between the ages of 18 and 48 all started having symptoms up to two weeks post-vaccination. All the medical experts who spoke to CBC News agreed far more research is needed to understand the exact mechanism at play, who's most at risk, and whether there's any clear causation playing out at all between these vaccines and certain individuals, women included. It's already well known that women are more likely to develop autoimmune conditions than men, but again, Bogler says ties to post-vaccination symptoms aren't yet clear. "Right now, not only is the information really preliminary, this is a really small number of cases," said Pai. By 22 March, the EMA had assembled 86 reports of people who had experienced blood clots in the brain or abdomen within two weeks of receiving a dose of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, … “We're seeing many strong indications of the benefit of immunization, as our case rates in the older population groups — those over 60, definitely those over 80 — and our death rates have come down, as well as our hospitalization rates in those age groups are coming down,” Williams said. Dr. Supriya Sharma talks about the risk of getting a blood clot from a vaccine or birth control. Quebec woman dies from blood clot after receiving AstraZeneca vaccine; experts stress rarity Montreal, Laval's curfew will return to 9:30 p.m. as of May 3 … The survey on vaccine preference found that despite the growing belief that the AstraZeneca vaccine is linked to blood clots, it has not dented overall levels of confidence in vaccines … Health officials in Ontario are reporting a third case of a rare blood clot associated with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. Toronto-based family physician Dr. Tali Bogler, chair of family medicine obstetrics at St. Michael's Hospital, stressed the mechanism behind blood clots tied to birth control appears to be completely different from what may be happening post-vaccination. In very rare cases, some people develop a blood clot after vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine Experts don't know if the immune reaction that causes these clots is due to the adenovirus component in the vaccine It's also not clear why more younger women have presented with these clots All women, all of child-bearing age. Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams said Monday that a man in his 70s is the latest person to suffer a clot after receiving a dose of the vaccine. Something else is likely going on when it comes to the two rare-but-similar forms of clots linked to these vaccines. "There's a difference between an association and a causal link — and a causal link, if there is one, is going to take time," she said. WATCH | Health Canada's chief adviser talks about risk of blood clots: "Obviously, there's going to be speculation," said Dr. Menaka Pai, a clinical hematologist at McMaster University in Hamilton and a member of Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. U.S. weighs next steps for Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 shot amid reports of clotting, Canada confirms 1st case of rare blood clot after AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Why restricting AstraZeneca vaccines in Canada means balancing 'vaccine risk vs. disease risk', Why Canada is suspending use of AstraZeneca vaccine in people under 55, Why guidelines for what Canadians can and can't do after getting COVID-19 vaccines are still unclear. Audience Relations, CBC P.O. One VIPIT case has also been confirmed in this country to date from that vaccine — also in a woman, though her age hasn't been revealed by public health officials. Though a joint presentation from the CDC and FDA did note one of the women used estrogen or progesterone for undisclosed reasons. Administration of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine can be resumed after a pause due to reports of a very rare type of blood clot, according to health officials. And for more concerning reactions, If 1 of These 3 Body Parts Starts Swelling Up After Your Vaccine, Call a Doctor. What is clear are the risks associated with COVID-19. From severe blood clotting to lung damage to other serious symptoms, the infection remains dangerous and stubborn to treat, with women who are pregnant or anyone with autoimmune disorders even more at risk of dire outcomes, including death. On Tuesday, Canada reported its first caseof a rare blood clot in a … That's typically beneficial during pregnancy so a woman doesn't bleed at dangerous levels while giving birth, but it does increase someone's blood clot risk. The news followed weeks of controversy over AstraZeneca-Oxford's two-dose shot, which has also been linked to a similar type of clot dubbed vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia, or VIPIT. But medical experts say it's highly unlikely there's a connection or any layered risk between vaccines and hormonal contraceptives — even though birth control contains a clotting risk of its own. 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Here's what we do know. TORONTO -- It was a report that likely prompted alarm for many women: rare, serious blood clots following vaccination for six Americans. That hasn't stopped speculation over the potential causes, with theories circulating online over whether there could be ties to women's hormonal birth control. “So we are continuing to monitor the situation, we are continuing to document these, to investigate them, and in partnership with our federal, provincial, territorial teams, we're looking at those on a national basis,” Williams said at a news conference Monday. "Whether they're women between the ages of 18 to 48, or otherwise, everybody should keep in mind that your risk of having a severe complication of any kind from a vaccine is much, much, astronomically much lower than having a complication from getting COVID-19," said Dr. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Georgetown University's Center for Global Health Science and Security in Washington, D.C. That prompted Rasmussen to recently get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine herself, and she stands by that decision despite being in the age range for the clotting issues later reported in the U.S. "Rest assured that, even if this is related to the vaccine, it is vanishingly rare — and it's very unlikely that it's going to happen to you," she said. (CNN) When news broke that Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine might be linked to blood clots, the company responded by pointing a finger … Box 500 Station A Toronto, ON Canada, M5W 1E6. Alyson Kelvin, a vaccinologist with VIDO-InterVac, a vaccine developer affiliated with the University of Saskatchewan, said the recent recommendation to pause use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine south of the border made sense to allow for further research to see if the vaccine actually caused the reported clots. What's challenging now is that until there's more clarity on these potentially deadly clots, experts simply can't answer some of the burning questions around these vaccines, which could increase vaccine hesitancy during the pandemic. This is … The National Advisory Committee on Immunization previously recommended the vaccine should only be made available to Canadians over the age of 55 after reports of blood clots … More research is needed to understand the exact mechanism, though there's speculation among some members of the medical community that it could be tied to someone's immune system going haywire. Vaccine side effects have taken centre stage recently, with blood-clotting concerns about AstraZeneca the most prominent. Blood clots that occur while taking hormonal birth control — or during pregnancy, or for older women on hormone replacement therapy — are linked to the hormone estrogen, Bogler explained, which ramps up the body's clotting system. Notably, none of the women with CVST cases tied to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were on birth control, a U.S. CDC panel on Wednesday heard from the chief medical officer for Johnson & Johnson's vaccine division. According to the World Health Organization, this rare blood clot — called vaccine-induced prothrombotic immune thrombocytopenia (VIPIT) — occurs in just one in a … It comes after blood clots linked with the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, which uses the same technology as the AZ jab, has led to health chiefs … The European Medical Agency (EMA) said in a statement on April 6 that it had found a "possible link" between the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and the very rare blood clots. “So it shows you that the vaccine is working.”. A variety of newsletters you'll love, delivered straight to you. Both options are approved in Canada and use similar mechanisms, though only AstraZeneca's shot has been used here so far, with the country's first shipment of Johnson & Johnson doses expected at the end of April. Should Canada divert vaccines from regions with low COVID-19 levels to hot spots? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration are checking to see if Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine also might cause the blood clots. “So we still want to encourage everyone, when is your turn or opportunity to get a vaccine, to obtain the vaccine,” Williams said. A study by Oxford University found the number of people who receive blood clots after getting vaccinated with a coronavirus vaccine are about … Christian Bogdan, a member of Germany's vaccine committee, told Reuters that the risk of blood clotting was highest in women between the ages of 20 and 59, observed between four to 16 days after receiving the AztraZeneca vaccine. Blood clots are formed by platelets, which bind together to form a clot, and typically a lot of them are needed to do that. By Tucker Reals, Steve Berriman April 19, 2021 / 7:02 AM / CBS News Health Canada vouched for the safety of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, despite new evidence suggesting a “stronger link” to blood clots. The province reported its first two cases last week of the condition, known as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT). Some 4.1 million doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive in Canada through various sources by the end of June. A 49-year-old nurse in … Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams said Monday that a man in his 70s is the latest person to suffer a clot after receiving a dose of the vaccine. 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