Photographer: SeongJoon Cho / Bloomberg
Photographer: SeongJoon Cho / Bloomberg
The death of a 48-year-old woman from New South Wales was “probably related” to the AstraZeneca vaccine, although the case was “complicated” by the basic conditions, Australian health officials said on Saturday.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt expressed condolences to the woman’s family, whose death is the first death, and the third case in Australia of blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine. The woman received the inoculation before the government’s April 8 announcement that the dose of Pfizer was preferred to people under the age of 50.
Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe, recommended and effective, Hunt told a news conference Saturday, adding that they remain under constant review by the immunization task force.
The balance of risks still clearly favors vaccinations, as the deceased was “a rather atypical case, and this issue is still being examined,” Professor John Skerritt of the Therapeutic Goods Administration told the conference. The prevalence of AstraZeneca vaccine complications in Australia is about one in 300,000, similar to that seen in the UK, he said.
The government is facing ongoing criticism over delays in its vaccine launch strategy, which is largely based on the AstraZeneca shooting. Prime Minister Scott Morrison this week he refused to set a new target date for all Australians to receive the first blows, as a deadline of the year seems impossible enough. The latest issue shows that more than 1.4 million people have been vaccinated, including more than 885,000 with AstraZeneca, according to the health minister.
Hunt said there would be “pressure in the last quarter of the year” to inoculate as many people with the available doses of Pfizer “for those who are not in a position because of their age to take AstraZeneca.”
The drama of the AstraZeneca Vaccine risks prolonging the pandemic
Regarding the repatriation of stranded Australians abroad, Hunt said: “Our goal is very clear, to bring as many Australians home and as early as possible.” Opening quarantine in Victoria should help the process, he said.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has called on the government to “facilitate and ensure” the prompt return of two stranded nationals to the United States, according to a report published in The Guardian Australia.
Meanwhile, authorities are investigating a possible transmission of the virus among seven recently returned passengers in two separate quarantined family groups at the Adina Hotel in Sydney’s central business district, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
(Correct story that moved on April 17, which distorted the number of vaccine-related deaths in the title and second paragraph.)