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Saudi says no cases of blood clots recorded among those who have been vaccinated

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority confirmed that over 2.3 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the kingdom

by Aarti Nagraj

March 18, 2021

Saudi Arabia has said that no cases have been recorded of blood clots or thrombosis among those who have been vaccinated for Covid-19 in the kingdom, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

The announcement comes after many European countries suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns about thrombosis.

The Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) confirmed that over 2.3 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine have been administered in the kingdom so far.

The kingdom approved the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December and the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca one in February. It has also approved the use of Moderna.

Read: Saudi Arabia approves use of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine

Earlier this week, an official from Saudi’s Ministry of Health also rejected news that the kingdom had halted the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for 48 hours.

The SFDA stressed that it is constantly following up on the safety of the vaccines by checking and studying the side-effects and the relevant data – locally as well as internationally – in coordination with the regulatory and healthy bodies.

Reports of blood clots in some people who received the Astra shots prompted more than a dozen European Union countries to pause immunisations. The European Medicines Agency is due to provide a definitive assessment on Thursday. Italy and France have indicated they would lift suspensions if the shot is deemed safe.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine should continue to be administered as the benefits outweigh its risks.

A WHO expert group is assessing the latest safety data and will communicate the findings once the review is completed, it said in a statement.

WHO officials on Monday had said that preliminary data doesn’t show an association between blood clots and the vaccine. Blood clots occur frequently regardless: They are the third-most common cardiovascular disease globally, according to the WHO.

With inputs from Bloomberg