While several anti-vax claims state that post-shot blood clots are worrying, a recent big data study sheds light on these fears.
Blood Clots After COVID-19 Vaccine Shots?
This blood clot claim has been a strong argument for those who advocate against getting COVID-19 jabs. More specifically, these jabs have been claimed to elevate one's risk of getting venous thromboembolism (VTE), as reported by Science Alert.
Peter L. Elkin, MD, the study's first author and the chair and professor of the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Buffalo, notes that the population-based study demonstrated that there was only a minimal and negligible risk of getting VTE after getting a COVID-19 jab.
More specifically, according to a statement from the University of Buffalo, the study discovered that among vaccinated individuals, the VTE rate was 1.3755 per 1,000 individuals. This was 0.1% above the baseline VTE rate of 1.3741 per 1,000 people who are unvaccinated.
Elkin adds that the slightly higher risk for VTE could be attributed to VITT (vaccine induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia), which is an immunity response that leads to fewer, stickier, and malformed platelets that may lead to VTE.
Nevertheless, considering the risk-benefit ratio of VTE and COVID-19 infection, this ratio strongly leaned towards getting vaccinated, as explained by Elkin.
While the risk of developing VTE has been deemed negligible, this does not mean that the risk is completely nonexistent. However, one's odds of getting blood clots are much higher if unvaccinated and infected. In fact, according to the statement, getting infected with the coronavirus poses a huge risk of developing blood clots.
The study was detailed in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science.
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Vaccine Safety
Science Alert notes that though these recent results may not be convincing enough for these anti-vax believers, these findings may hopefully reinforce confidence in vaccine safety.
Elkin explains that the study is an example of how translational science can be used to cater to vital scientific questions that society faces today. In this specific case, it answers a pressing concern regarding COVID-19 vaccine safety.
The favor for vaccinations has been an overarching consensus shared by experts. Much of the world also resonated with it, as evidenced by the 9.23 million COVID-19 vaccine shots that have been administered so far.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention also reports that COVID-19 vaccines were developed using decades-old science. These vaccines also adhere to the rigid scientific standards implemented by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These standards pertain to effectiveness, quality of manufacturing, and safety. Such vaccines are also being monitored by the "most intense safety monitoring efforts" that the US has ever seen.
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