AstraZeneca clotting concerns do not affect those currently eligible for the jab

The Grattan Institute's Stephen Duckett says the blood clotting concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine which are under investigation do not affect those who are currently eligible for the jab in Australia. “The only question about AstraZeneca is in younger people and we’re not at that stage of the rollout yet, so it’s actually not a reason why people who are eligible this minute shouldn’t go and get the AstraZeneca,” he said. “The issue is going to be it’s really complex … how you measure whether there’s an excess rate of these clots or whether it’s just the normal rate. “Millions of people around the world are now getting the AstraZeneca vaccine and so you’d expect, just in the normal course of life, that there’ll be a number of clots. “So what you have to do is say is the rate in these people that have been vaccinated higher than the rate you’d expect and because there are such small numbers you’ve got this statistical variation that you have to take into account as well. “So you might have lots of clots but it might not be an excess rate at all." Mr Duckett told Sky News it was “appropriate” for health authorities to be “cautious” and conduct reviews each week “as more information becomes available."