The island is expected to follow the UK’s lead and stop giving the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to young people.
As the Manx Independent went to press, a statement was expected from the Department of Health and Social Care after counterparts in the UK announced that those in the 18-29 age group would be offered an alternative vaccine if available.
Earlier this week, Health Minister David Ashford said the Isle of Man would follow suit if the UK’s medicines regulator decided to stop administering the jab.
He said that it would be obliged to but added: ’The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory met last week to consider the position, and its advice continued that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh any particular risks.
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’This is in relation to the 22 reports of what’s called CVST (cavernous sinus thrombosis), and eight reports of other thrombosis events.
’There are 30 cases being looked at, and the MHRA yesterday issued a statement saying "the risk of having this type of blood clot is very small"’, up to and including March 24, that out of a total of 18.1 million doses given by that date.
’They’ve thoroughly analysed each report as soon as it’s come in and analysis prints up to March 21, so they’ve not changed their advice that the vaccine should not continue to be used.
’I know there’s been widespread media reports about them supposedly going to look at whether they should be used on under-30s or not, but let’s not go on media speculation and actually wait for the MHRA to come forward themselves and say it. In relation to the CSVTs, in a normal, unvaccinated population it would be expected to produce an instance of three-to-six cases per million people.
’If you look at the number of people vaccinated with Astra-Zeneca, 18.1m, even in normal circumstances that would give you between 54 to 108 cases in an unvaccinated population of that size, so it’s not anything out of the ordinary in that situation.’
Director of Public Health Dr Henrietta Ewart added: ’We’re linked into the MHRA and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, so we hear directly as they appraise new evidence and as the Minister said, we would expect to follow their evidence-based recommendations as and when they make them.’
A trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine on children has stopped giving out jabs while the UK’s medicines regulator investigates, after concerns were raised it could develop rare blood clots on the brain in children.