Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) - a blood clot disorder - is a rare side effect of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine, and the risks far outweigh the benefits of the jab, doctors said.
This comes after reports said that AstraZeneca has for the first time accepted in court documents that its vaccine, developed in partnership with Oxford University, can raise the risk of a rare and serious blood clot.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, sold as Covishield in India and Vaxzevria in Europe is a viral vector vaccine developed using the modified chimpanzee adenovirus ChAdOx1.
Covishield manufactured and marketed in India in partnership with Serum Institute of India (SII), was widely administered in the country - to almost 90 per cent of the Indian population.
"Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Syndrome (TTS) is one of the rare but very serious adverse effects that has happened as part of Vaccine-induced Immune Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (VITTP). The incidence has been as low as one in 50,000 (0.002 per cent), but in a huge population, the number becomes sizeable," infectious disease expert Dr. Ishwar Gilada, said.
"It is a very rare condition resulting from an abnormal immune response. Although it has several causes, it has also been linked with adenovirus vector vaccines and the WHO published a report on May 27, 2021 about it," Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the Indian Medical Association's National Covid-19 Task Force, said.
