Thread by @DrRajathAthreya

#COVID19 #covishieldvaccine #Covishield #AstraZeneca

Few points

📍#Covid_19 was an unprecedented global medical crisis

📍 Highly infectious, it resulted in a global pandemic in no time

📍Range of severity was asymptomatic to critical illness, death, long covid and worsening of diseases native to the patient

📍Globally Healthcare capacity was overwhelmed. This resulted in deaths, societal crisis and economic impact

📍Global efforts in creating and testing, manufacturing and distribution of vaccines was impressive and unprecedented

📍COVID 19 infection per se increased the risk of #Clotting in large blood vessels (veins) and in small ones (microvasculature)

📍A complex pathway of inflammation: low oxygen levels disrupting smooth lining of blood vessels, sticky platelets, body’s immune system on overdrive producing chemicals (cytokines) which recruit a cascade of clot forming (pro thrombotic) mechanisms could happen in COVID patients

📍This was akin to traffic coming to a grinding halt on a busy day with all motorists out on roads, but the roads are potholed, flooded with rain and this mayhem went unchecked. This did not happen in all, but in about 50-75% of those sick enough to be in ICU.

📍#CovidVaccines saved millions of lives. The ICU admission and death rates among vaccinated dropped, both with the mRNA (Pfizer, Moderna)and Adenoviral vector vaccines (#Covisheild) the first two in the market and by virtue of which they have saved maximum number of lives.

📍Most Governments formed scientific committees to guide policy (public health measures including vaccination) scientists + policy makers networked globally, learnt from each other and course corrected when needed
📍Vaccines including #AstraZeneca #Covishield saved lives

📍The potential ADR (adverse drug reaction) of clotting was anticipated, looked for and reported. Risk benefit weighed favourably towards vaccination. Risk of clotting from vaccine infinitesimal compared to complications (including clots) and death rates among non vaccinated

📍ADR reporting in India has not been robust and did not cover 4 weeks following vaccine meticulously

📍AstraZeneca facing a class suit has declared findings of definite but extremely rare risk of clots with its Covid vaccine

📍Unless clots in heart, lungs or brain happened in vaccine recipients within days (or weeks) of vaccine, all other such events could possibly be random or due to Covid infection itself and not due to the vaccine per se

📍There is nothing new to read into recent ‘declarations’

Unroll @threadreaderapp