Former Health DG Explains Why Malaysians Need Not Worry About AstraZeneca Vaccine Side Effects

It was recently announced that AstraZeneca was withdrawing all of their vaccines globally after admitting that their vaccine came with side effects such as blood clots and low blood platelet counts.

Well, it turns out that the Malaysian government knew of these side effects during the Covid-19 pandemic and former Health DG Dr Noor Hisham is now sharing that us, Malaysians, don’t have to worry about it.

Taking to his Twitter page, he shared that the side effect, which is known as Vaccine Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT), can only happen 4 times per 1 million injections. Additionally, he said that the side effect happens within 4 weeks of taking the vaccine, which means that if it hasn’t happened yet, it probably won’t at all.

He wrote, “A side effect that is said to be associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine is the effect of blood clots of Vaccine Induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia (VITT).”

“It is a disease in which blood clots along with yellow blood cells become less. This ONLY happens within 4 days to 4 weeks after receiving the vaccination. The public is asked not to worry as it has been many years since the last AZ vaccination. The publicised court case is a case that took place in the United Kingdom during the Covid-19 pandemic. It is not based on recent cases.”

Apparently, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Malaysian Ministry of Health (MoH) had already received reports about VITT. 

Though, they carried on with providing the vaccine to the people as it was needed.

“This vaccine still needed to be used for the vaccination program because the death rate due to Covid-19 among the unvaccinated community was very high, and at that time the vaccine stock was insufficient. High-risk groups are those who have had a history of blood clots. This risk group was not allowed to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine,” he explained.

Dr Noor Hisham added that the current cases of heart attacks, strokes and blood clotting are not related to AstraZeneca as the vaccine is no longer in use.

What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.

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