23K adverse events post vaccination in India: Govt

New Delhi, May 17

The national expert committee monitoring adverse events following Covid immunisation (AEFIs) on Monday said the rate of vaccine side-effects in India was negligible and the risk of clotting after the administration of Covishield shots was “miniscule but definitive”.

The committee, in a report to the government, said since vaccinations began on January 16, over 23,000 adverse events had been reported through the CoWIN platform from 684 of India’s 753 districts and of these, 700 cases (9.3 cases per million doses administered) were reported to be serious in nature.

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• Vaccine beneficiaries have been told to report symptoms of clotting on CoWIN within 20 days of vaccination
• The rate of such cases in India is less than those in UK and Germany

“The AEFI committee has completed an in-depth case review of 498 serious and severe events, of which 26 cases have been reported to be potential thromboembolic (formation of a clot in a blood vessel that might also break loose and carried by the blood stream to plug another vessel) events following the administration of Covishield vaccine with a reporting rate of 0.61 cases per million doses,” said experts after alerts issued in some countries on post-vaccination thrombotic events with AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine (Covishield in India).

The committee found no such thing following the administration of Covaxin.

A statement from the panel says, “The reporting rate of thromboembolic events in India is around 0.61 per million doses, much lower than the 4 cases per million reported by UK’s regulator Medical and Health Regulatory Authority. Germany has reported 10 events per million doses.”

Experts said the risk is almost 70% less in persons of South and South East Asian descent in comparison to those from European descent.

The government has, meanwhile, issued advisories to healthcare workers and vaccine beneficiaries to encourage people to be aware of suspected clotting symptoms occurring within 20 days after receiving any Covid vaccine (particularly Covishield).

Beneficiaries have been told to report any of the following symptoms on CoWIN within 20 days of vaccination — breathlessness, chest pain, pain in limbs, on pressing limbs or swelling in limbs (arm or calf), multiple, pinhead size red spots or bruising of skin in an area beyond the injection site, persistent abdominal pain with or without vomiting, seizures in the absence of previous history of seizures with or without vomiting, severe and persistent headache with or without vomiting (in the absence of previous history of migraine or chronic headache), weakness or paralysis of limbs or any particular side or part of the body (including face), etc. — TNS

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