Tests to determine whether quarantine cop’s blood clots linked to Pfizer vaccine
A police officer has reportedly been treated for blood clots in a Brisbane hospital, three days after receiving the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19.
A million dose of the Pfizer vaccine have arrived in Australia from Poland. (Photo: AAP)
The 40-year-old man who worked patrolling the state’s quarantine hotels received the vaccine on Sunday, Nine News reported.
Queensland Health said the patient presented at a private hospital and is not currently admitted.
“In Queensland, all adverse events in relation to the COVID-19 vaccines are reported to the Therapeutic Goods Administration,” a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
“The TGA will then undertake an assessment and determine whether there is any clinical link to the vaccination.”
Deputy Premier Steven Miles said it was too early to say if the incident is linked to the Pfizer vaccine.
“What people should be very confident in though, is that our medical authorities are determined to investigate any such incident and provide that information and data, nationally and indeed internationally,” he said on Wednesday.
“It will be thoroughly investigated, our TGA is one of the strictest in the world.”
If confirmed it will be the first reported incident of a patient developing blood clots after getting the Pfizer vaccine in Australia.
People under 50 are being advised to take that vaccine over the AstraZeneca jab amid concerns over rare blood clots.
So far three people have developed clots in Australia after being given the AstraZeneca vaccine.
They include 48-year-old Genene Norris who died in NSW last week after developing blood clots.
The TGA said her death was likely linked to her vaccination.
Norris had several chronic health conditions when she received the jab on April 8. She became unwell three or four days later before dying on April 15.
The other two who developed blood clots likely linked to their AstraZeneca jab are a woman in Western Australia and a man in Victoria, both in their 40s.
At least 14 people in Australia have had allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine, but none have developed blood clots.
Johnson & Johnson also halted the rollout of its own vaccine in Europe last week after US officials recommended a pause due to six detected cases of very rare blood clots.
Queensland reported one new case of coronavirus on Wednesday, in a person who was already in hotel quarantine after arriving from Papua New Guinea.
