On Monday afternoon, a panel on AEFI (adverse events following immunization) told the Union Health Ministry that complications like bleeding and clotting events following a Covid vaccine injection in India are “miniscule” and “in line with the expected number of diagnoses of these conditions.

The panel said that it had studied 498 (of 700) “serious and severe events” and found that only 26 had been reported as “potential thromboembolic events”. It was referring to the potentially fatal formation of a clot that could break loose and be carried by the bloodstream to block a vessel.

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The panel further said that Covishield, the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine linked by some studies to clotting issues has reported fewer than 0.61 cases per million doses administered.

It also said that Covaxin, the vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech has reported “no potential thromboembolic events” following the administering of the drug.

After vaccination, most of the post-immunization blood clot cases have been seen till the first week. A source, aware of the development in the government, said, “This is very less if compared with that reported in the United Kingdom; vaccination outweighs the risk.”

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Sources in the national committee tracking adverse events following immunization had earlier said, “Data analyzed by the government panel also suggests that South Asians may genetically have less propensity to develop thrombosis or clotting post-vaccination as compared with those in western countries.”

India has reviewed over 700 adverse events following immunization, at least till mid-April. During a meeting held on March 31, a presentation was made to the National AEFI Committee. As per this presentation, which was prepared by Immunization Technical Support Unit at the health ministry, there have been 617 severe and serious (including deaths) adverse events following immunization (AEFI).

A total of 180 deaths (29.2%) have been reported following vaccinations across the country, as of March 29.

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Dr. Gagandeep Kang is a prominent vaccine scientist. According to him, there are five types of AEFIs; vaccine product-related reaction, vaccine quality defect-related reaction, immunization error-related reaction, immunization anxiety-related reaction, and coincidental event.

Dr. NK Arora, a top public health official, had recently stated that all states should monitor vaccine recipients for AEFI for 28 days, which is currently being done for the first 72 hours after receiving a jab. He had further said that with more vaccines to enter the market, monitoring of the AEFI should be enhanced.

GOI has tasked the National AEFI Committee with determining the type of each AEFI in the country and, where applicable, arranging for compensation for the affected parties and/or informing vaccine regulation.