Lithuania is considering vaccinating AstraZeneca before age 40: two cases have raised concern

According to the member of the Council of Government Experts, the immunologist dr. Marius Strioga, the question of the age limit for vaccination with Vaxzevria was certainly debated last week. However, a decision has not yet been made and the last word will be given by the Ministry of Health (SAM).

“We have made proposals, but the ministry is evaluating and the question arises of what to cover these vaccines. In that case, those vaccines would remain unused, “Strioga said Tuesday night.

According to the interviewee, experts have suggested vaccinating Vaxzevria for people over 60 years of age. That would be the upper age limit, so another suggestion was to vaccinate people over 40.

“This has been suggested because the highest risk of side effects is below 60 years, and especially below 40. Furthermore, we also have severe cases of thrombosis in Lithuania after this vaccine, in the age group of 20 to 30 years. This complication is also possible in our population. Given the risk of death in young people kovidu it is low, which makes the benefit-risk balance of this vaccine particularly unfavorable, ”said Strioga.

According to the immunologist, when the level of the pandemic is severe, that is, the high number of new infections observed in the public, the use of this vaccine in the general public may be justified. However, especially in people under 40 years of age, the risk of thrombosis and thrombocytopenia outweighs the benefit.

“But the decision not to use this vaccine in people under the age of 60 would mean that we practically do not use the vaccine at all. Most people this age have already been vaccinated and are terrified of this vaccine. If someone has been vaccinated, it is younger. This means that this vaccine is being discarded and must be compensated. But there is nothing, because how many vaccines have been ordered, how many have been ordered “, named M. Strioga to the problems that may arise after such a decision.

Aistė Šuksta, advisor to Health Minister Arūnas Dulkis, told the Delfi portal that the question of whether to limit the age at which people will be vaccinated with Vaxzevria is on the minister’s agenda.

Rugilė Pilvinienė, Senior Advisor to the Pharmacovigilance and Poisoning Information Division of the State Pharmacovigilance and Poisoning Information Division, announced at a conference organized by the State Medicines Control Agency (IARC) that several reports had been received in Lithuania of adverse reactions and serious adverse reactions.

Two young men, aged 27 and 30, who had been vaccinated with AstraZeneca’s Vaxzevrios vaccine, had thrombocytopenia. According to R. Pilvinienė, one person who became ill has already recovered without serious consequences, and another, according to last week’s data, is still receiving treatment in hospital.

“In terms of thrombosis in general, the flow of reports has not been high. There were only two cases of thrombocytopenia and thrombosis, which I mentioned, and other reports have reported thrombophlebitis, the so-called mesenteric thrombosis, which would also be a serious disorder that culminates in intestinal necrosis. But the case of that report is quite poorly described and if it is related to the vaccine or if it is just a coincidence, we cannot name it ”, commented R. Pilvinienė.

According to the specialist, the aforementioned cases of thrombocytopenia in vaccinated people in Lithuania are the first. Previously, no similar cases had been registered in our country.

R. Pilvinienė confirmed that the aforementioned cases are related to the Vaxzevria vaccine: “Given the time of the reaction, it coincides with the information provided to the European Medicines Agency on this type of adverse reaction in other European countries. We think it is related. This information is already included in the summary of product characteristics. This is valued, as is well known. And we see it as a coincidence with that information. “