Health chiefs in Wiltshire and Hampshire reassure public over AstraZeneca vaccine
It comes as some European countries have stopped the rollout of it
The Public Health Directors in Wiltshire and Hampshire are encouraging the public to not be put off getting a vaccine after news about the AstraZeneca jab.
Kate Blackburn and Simon Bryant have both said that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is "safe.
Countries including Ireland, France, Italy and Germany have temporarily suspended the use of the injection over concerns about possible side effects.
AstraZeneca said 17 million people have received a dose of the vaccine and there has been 37 cases of blood clots reported.
Kate Blackburn told Greatest Hits Radio:
"The vaccine is safe, it's been through all the regulatory processes and if you look at some of the scientific evidence around the number of cases we would expect to see with blood clotting as normal part of population illness compared to what we see in the vaccinated population then there is no difference.
WHO and MHRA have confirmed that the vaccine is safe and we know actually that coronavirus itself gives you an increased risk of clotting so if I was offered my vaccine and I was in the appropriate age group today I would be at the front of the queue."
Meanwhile, Dr Bryant said that the figures are "very small":
"It is right we monitor those and understand those. The vaccine is a safe vaccine and we are really supporting that roll out and it is protecting people’s lives so I’d really encourage everyone if they are offered the vaccination to take that up and that will help protect them from the impact of Covid. It is some very very very small side effects which will be monitored and looked at but it is a safe vaccine."
We are being urged to get the vaccine as soon as we are able to, with case numbers on the decline.
LATEST COVID-19 FIGURES
The latest government data shows that in the seven days to the 10th March, there were 175 cases of Covid-19 in Wiltshire and 487 in Hampshire.
Both of these figures have decreased on the previous week.
It also gives both county's a similar rolling rate per 100,000 population with Wiltshire's at 35.0 and Hampshire 35.2.
These are well below the national average.