The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) has made a recommendation that the COVID-19 vaccine be deferred for people with a history of specific rare blood clotting disorders. The recommendation applied to both Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines after 18 cases of clotting were recorded in 20 million vaccinations.
The rare conditions include cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) and heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT).
Co-chair of the advisory group, Professor Allen Cheng, said the advice is only precautionary, and that more information will be made available as research is released in the next few weeks.