Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine: Your most-Googled questions answered

MORE than 33 million people in the UK have now received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

There are still a number of questions being asked about the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, however, with thousands taking to search engine giant Google to find the answers.

Among them are fears of blood clots with the Oxford jab. This rare side effect, however, has only affected 0.0004 per cent of those who have had it.

Here are the answers to some of those most Googled questions regarding the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine:

Does the AstraZeneca vaccine cause blood clots?

Blood clots from the AstraZeneca vaccine are a ‘very rare side effect’ of the jab.

Your risk of getting a blood clot from having Covid-19 is eight times higher than after being given the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), a type of blood clot, has affected four out of a million people who have been given the vaccine, compared to 39 out of a million getting a blood clot after having Covid.

This means the risk of a blood clot from this vaccine works out as one in 250,000 or 0.0004 per cent.

You have a higher chance of getting a blood clot from flying according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the risk of blood clots from flying amounts to one in 1,000 or 0.1 per cent.

There is also a higher risk of clotting from taking the contraceptive pill. According to an article in the Lancet journal, last year incidences of blood clots with the combined oral contraceptive pill is about to give per 10,000 women per year.

Making the risk one in 2,000 or 0.05 per cent.

What are the other side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine?

The AstraZeneca vaccine has similar side effects to the other Covid vaccines.

These common side-effects, most being mild and short term, according to the NHS include:

tenderness, swelling, and/or redness at the injection site.
headache or muscle ache
joint pain
chills
nausea or vomiting
feeling tired
fever (temperature above 37.8°C)

Read here: People want to get their AstraZeneca jab, despite blood clot concerns

What symptoms should I be concerned about?

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) say that anyone who has had the following symptoms for four or more days, after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, should seek medical advice:

A severe or persistent headache
Blurred vision
Chest pain
Shortness of breath
Swollen legs
Persistent abdominal pain
Unusual skin bruising
Pinpoint spots (not including the injection site)

What is the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine?

According to the weekly medical journal the Lancet, the efficacy of reducing the risk for Covid in each vaccine are as follows:

AstraZeneca-Oxford: 67 per cent
Pfizer-BioNTech: 94 per cent
Moderna-NIH: 90 per cent
Johnson and Johnson: 67 per cent

Why are under 30s being offered a different jab?

Due to a very small number of blood clots in younger people, those under the age of 30 will be offered an alternative jab to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The benefits of the Oxford vaccine continue to outweigh any risks for most people, the UK medicines watchdog has said, as European regulators ruled that unusual blood clots were 'very rare side effects' of the jab.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there were still huge benefits of the vaccine in preventing Covid-19 and serious disease.

More than 20 million people have been given the Oxford vaccine.

The advice is being given after 168 people in the UK developed blood clots after the jab.

Of those who developed blood clots, 32 have died – three being under 30.

The MHRA has concluded that the balance of risk for the vaccine is ‘very favourable for older people’ but more finely balanced for younger groups.

Do I have to have the AstraZeneca jab as your second dose if you had it as your first?

The current advice stands that if you have already had a first dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine without suffering any serious side effects you should complete the course.

Read here: 'Double mutant' Covid case found in the UK - where is the closest to Oxfordshire?

This includes people aged 18 to 29 years who are health and social care workers, unpaid carers, and household contacts of those who are severely immunosuppressed.

How does the AstraZeneca vaccine compare to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines?

MORE than 33 million people in the UK have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

There are still a number of questions being asked about the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, however, blood clots were spotted as a ‘very rare side effect’ of the jab.

This rare side effect, however, has only affected 0.0004 per cent of those who have had the jab.

Here are the answers to some of those most Googled questions regarding the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine?