The patients being treated for rare but serious blood clots after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine locally are now recovering at home according to Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram.
"Dr Kenneth Charles, who is our haematologist assigned to the ministry has been liaising with the cases of the syndrome together with their immediate clinical leads. So far I believe he has indicated to me that the clinical criteria utilised...has kept them in a clinically stable position," Dr Parasram said in response to a question from Guardian Media Limited during a virtual press conference yesterday.
"I believe persons are at home at this time not in hospital. So they are doing fairly well in terms of the syndrome and being managed based on clinical guidelines."
Over the past month, three people have presented with the clotting condition referred to as vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT).
The most recent of the case was confirmed last week.
All cases received the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.
VITT is associated with the jab along with the Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine. Despite this known side effect, health experts globally assure that the benefits of receiving the jab outweigh the rare risk.
It is considered a rare but serious side effect.
For the Oxford-AstraZeneca dose currently being used locally and in 177 other countries, it is estimated to occur only four times out of every million.
On Tuesday, June 22, Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram confirmed that the second case of VITT was recorded in the country. However, he then assured that there were no vaccine-related deaths in the country.
Shortly after, the Ministry of Health's Epidemiology Division's technical director Dr Avery Hinds commented on the incidence of the condition.
He noted VITT is a random occurrence. This means these rare cases can pop up at any point during the vaccination process.
“(It) doesn’t mean that you have to count to a million before you get four. You can get the four early and then get no more. You can get none until the last four. It is a random occurrence," Hinds said.
Symptoms of VITT includes generally severe or persistent headaches, blurred vision, shortness of breath, chest pain, leg swelling, severe abdominal pain, increased bleeding which may show as bruising or tiny blood spots under the skin beyond the injection site, and nausea and vomiting.
He assured the ministry was monitoring the condition's occurrence and would evaluate any country-specific risks.