Dr Hilary Jones has insisted the blood clot cases being reported alongside the Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine are simply a ‘coincidence’.
Ireland, Iceland and the Netherlands have suspended use of the Covid-19 vaccine temporarily as a ‘precautionary step’ to investigate reports of serious clotting in adults.
However, Dr Hilary says there is no tangible evidence to link the blood clot cases to the coronavirus jab.
Explaining the science on Good Morning Britain, Dr Hilary said: ‘It’s almost certainly a coincidence. What we know is whenever we have a medicine, or a vaccine or a homeopathic remedy or a herbal remedy, there is a system in place where any possible side effects could be reported and investigated.
‘It’s absolutely right in reassuring that we’ve got an investigation in place to ensure that the level of blood clots that are being reported both in Norway and Ireland and all the EU countries, the UK and around the world.’
The GP explained that blood clots are ‘very common’ and ‘happen all the time’, citing examples of people who take the oral contraceptive pill, those who’ve had trauma to the body where blood vessels are damaged and heart attacks caused by blood clots.
‘There are going to be blood clots anyway before any vaccine is ever rolled out,’ he stated.
Dr Hilary continued: ‘We’re looking at the level of blood clots that are being reported as a precautionary measure and actually all the data we have so far is that the level of blood clots is lower than it would be before vaccinations.
‘That’s in itself reassuring and that’s across all genders, all age groups, it’s across batches of vaccines and it’s across the different countries.
‘So it’s highly reassuring that at the moment there’s no evidence of any causal link between the vaccine and blood clots.’
AstraZeneca said a review of available safety data in more than 17 million people who have been vaccinated across the UK and EU has shown no evidence of an increased risk.
The company’s chief medical officer Ann Taylor said the number of cases of blood clots reported is lower than the hundreds of cases that would be expected among the general population.
The UK’s medicines regulator also said available evidence does not suggest the vaccine is the cause of the blood clots.
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