London – A study by researchers at the University of Oxford in England suggests that the risks of experiencing dangerous, rare blood clots in the brain are much higher in those who have the coronavirus than those who receive either the AstraZeneca vaccine or the vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna in the US. The research shows that the number of people who get clots after receiving the vaccines from the US pharmaceutical giants is very similar to the number who develop the rare condition after an injection of the AstraZeneca drug, which was developed in collaboration with the vaccine institute of Oxford.
A key finding of the study, unveiled Thursday as a “pre-print” study yet to be reviewed by other scientists, was that the risk of developing a blood clot in the brain was about 95 times higher for people who COVID. 19 than in the general population.
That’s yet another serious health threat linked to the disease, and one that the scientists hoped would boost confidence in all of the major vaccines currently available in the Western world, as their research suggests the drugs have a significantly lower chances of blood clotting than the disease they’ve been proven to ward off.
“This is further evidence that the vaccine is dramatically helping people against the ravages of COVID-19,” said CBS News medical adviser, Dr. David Agus, on the study on “CBS This Morning.”
The analysis of real-world data, collected by the global health research network TriNetX and European agencies, included information on hundreds of thousands of people who had either contracted COVID-19 or who had AstraZeneca, Pfizer, or Moderna recordings. Most of the data on the mRNA-type vaccines, which are the US drugs, came from the US, while the data on the AstraZeneca shots came largely from Europe’s mass vaccination programs.
The data showed that about 4 in 1 million people who receive the vaccines made in America experience cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), or blood clots in the brain. With the AstraZeneca vaccine, which works in a different way and is similar to it Johnson & Johnson shot, the study showed an incidence of about 5 in every 1 million.
That equates to a risk of CVT that is 10 times higher for people who contract the coronavirus than for those who receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, and 8 times higher for those who receive the AstraZeneca shot.
“There are concerns about possible associations between vaccines and CVT, causing governments and regulators to restrict the use of certain vaccines,” said Paul Harrison, professor of psychiatry and head of the Translational Neurobiology Group at Oxford. “We have come to two important conclusions. First, COVID-19 significantly increases the risk of CVT, adding to the list of blood clotting problems caused by this infection. Second, the COVID-19 risk is higher than with current vaccines. even for people under 30, something to consider when weighing the risks and benefits of vaccination. “
The study released by Oxford on Thursday found that about 39 of every 1 million people who contract COVID-19 are likely to experience the blood clots in the brain. The scientists stressed that the purpose of their study was not to compare vaccines, but to gather solid data on the risks of all vaccines compared to the risks associated with catching COVID-19.
“The signs that COVID-19 is linked to CVT, as well as portal vein thrombosis – a coagulation disorder of the liver – are clear, and one of them should be noted,” said Dr. Maxime Taquet, another of the researchers at the Translational Neurobiology Group.
As the numbers used to determine the overall incidence rates were constantly updated, the researchers stressed that “all comparisons should be interpreted with caution as the data continues to grow.”
They also noted that it was still unclear whether “COVID-19 and vaccines lead to CVT by the same or different mechanisms,” and said this would be the subject of their ongoing research.