Spain is investigating three people who had blood clots after getting the now-controversial AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine — including a teacher who died of a brain hemorrhage, authorities announced Wednesday.
The 43-year-old math teacher from Marbella had no pre-existing conditions before getting the shot that has been halted in more than a dozen countries over the blood-clot fears, El Pais said.
She went to the ER after falling ill with a severe headache within hours of getting jabbed on March 3, but it was dismissed as routine vaccination side effects, the report said, citing the regional paper Diario Sur.
The mom of two — who was not identified — went back to the hospital 10 days later, and scans showed that she had suffered a brain hemorrhage, the report said.
She was rushed to the operating room, but died on Tuesday, the outlets said.
Neither health authorities nor the clinic where she was admitted would confirm details, citing data protection laws, Agence France-Presse said.
But another thrombosis case from a newly vaccinated person was also reported Tuesday, joining one from Monday, the reports said, without elaboration.
The Spanish Medicines and Health Products Agency (AEMPS) said it was “carrying out an exhaustive investigation to find out whether there was not only a causal link to the administration of the vaccine,” AFP said.
“All three cases share the peculiarity that the thrombosis events were associated with lower blood platelet counts,” AEMPS said — matching the “highly unusual symptoms” of a 60-year-old Danish woman who died after vaccination.
Until it was suspended Monday, the AstraZeneca shot had been administered to 975,661 people, and AEMPS stressed that blood clots “can also occur among the general population.”
The European nation as of Wednesday had reported more than 3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, with more than 72,500 deaths.
The European Medicines Agency has said it is “firmly convinced” that the benefits of AstraZeneca’s vaccine outweigh potential risks, insisting there was no evidence linking it to blood clots.
The World Health Organization has also defended the UK drug that was made in collaboration with Oxford University.
