M'sia to deliberate on use of AstraZeneca vaccine after EU findings, says Khairy

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia will decide on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for Covid-19 following a report by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) of rare blood clots being a possible side-effect, says Khairy Jamaluddin.

The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister said the Special Committee on Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee (JKJAVMY) will take the announcement into consideration to decide if Malaysia will administer the AstraZeneca vaccine to its citizens as planned.

“We take note of the EMA announcement on the AstraZeneca vaccine. @JKJAVMY will deliberate on the matter and decide if we will go ahead with using AZ in our portfolio of vaccines,” said Khairy in a tweet on Thursday (April 8).

“Safety is paramount,” added Khairy, who shared a tweet posted by the EMA on Wednesday (April 7).

The EMA tweet quoted its executive director Emer Cooke saying that an in-depth analysis flagged “unusual” blood clots as a possible side effect of the AstraZeneca jab.

“The #PRAC, after an in-depth analysis, has concluded that the reported cases of unusual blood clots following vaccination with (the) AstraZeneca #COVID19 vaccine should be listed as possible side effects of the vaccine,” EMA wrote.

On Wednesday, it was reported that Malaysia will decide on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after the release of the EMA’s findings on the vaccine.

Khairy said the report will determine whether there is a causal link between the use of the vaccine and blood clots.