MALAYSIA will roll out the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for people aged 60 and above, despite reports of rare blood clots linked to the vaccine, said Dr Kalai Peariasamy, director of the Health Ministry’s Institute for Clinical Research.

“The risk of blood clots in older people aged 60 and above is very low. 

“We will be using the vaccine on this group first while studying data from other countries who are administering AstraZeneca to those in the 18-, 30- and 55-year-old age group,” he told a joint press conference today with Health Minister Dr Adham Baba.

Kalai said based on data from tests conducted in the UK, Brazil and South Africa, the vaccine is shown to be effective across people of all ages and even in those with comorbidities.

He added that more than five million people in Scotland and the majority in England who received AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine were aged above 65 and 70 years, respectively.

British and European regulators also confirmed on April 7 that the vaccine was safe for all adults. 

However, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) did find a link between the vaccine and rare blood clots in women aged below 60. 

When considering whether or not to use the vaccine locally, Kalai said 22 experts, including infectious disease experts, paediatricians, and geriatricians, had given data on AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine to the Special Committee on Ensuring Access To Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV).

He said the committee then considered three factors: Whether the use of the vaccine will reduce hospitalisation, reduce admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), and death from Covid-19 or rare blood clots.

“The panel agreed that on the balance of risks and benefits, the benefits of using the vaccine outweighs the risks,” he said.

The National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) gave conditional approval on March 2 for the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. It has an efficacy rate of 76%, based on data from the United States.

Adham also confirmed that Malaysia has received 268,800 doses of the vaccine, which will be used in phase 2 of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme. – April 26, 2021.