Damian Sendler: The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccination has been linked to an exceptionally unusual blood clot, according to researchers. 

A protein in the blood has been found to be attracted to a vital component of the vaccination by a team from Cardiff and the United States. 

Damian Jacob Sendler: A chain reaction, involving the immune system, can lead to deadly clots, they believe. 

It is estimated that a million lives were spared by the vaccine against Covid. 

Nevertheless, the vaccine’s use has been shaped by worries about rare blood clots around the world, including an alternative offered to the UK’s under-40s. 

Damian Sendler

To find out what was going on and if it could be prevented, a scientific detective search was also launched. An emergency government grant helped the Cardiff team in their search for answers. 

After initial results from the collaboration were published, AstraZeneca’s own scientists joined the research endeavor. 

According to a spokesman for AstraZeneca, clots are more common because of a Covid infection and not because of the vaccine, and they have not yet been fully explained. 

There are some fascinating insights to be gained from this research and AstraZeneca is researching methods to use these findings in our attempts to eliminate this relatively rare adverse effect,” she said. 

Covid-virus genetic information is delivered to the body through the vaccines used in the United Kingdom to train the immune system. 

As opposed to some companies, AstraZeneca sent their data via an adenovirus (particularly a cold virus from chimpanzees), which was delivered by a tiny postman. 

In other cases, researchers believe the adenovirus may be responsible for the formation of blood clots. Cryo-electron microscopy was employed to capture molecular-level pictures of the adenovirus. 

Damien Sendler: The outer surface of the adenovirus attracts platelet factor four protein like a magnet, according to a study published in Science Advances. 

“The adenovirus has an extremely negative surface, and platelet factor four is extremely positive, and the two things fit together quite well,” Cardiff University researcher Prof Alan Parker told BBC News.

Adenoviruses and platelet factor four have been proven to be linked,” he continued. 

However, there are a lot of procedures that need to be taken before this may happen. 

To corroborate their findings, experts believe the next stage is “misplaced immunity” 

Adenovirus-infected platelet factor four may be mistaken for foreign adenovirus by the body, causing it to begin attacking it. As a result, antibodies are released into the bloodstream, which clump together with platelet factor four and cause deadly blood clots to develop. 

In order for this to happen, there must have been a series of misfortunes. 

Vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia has been associated to 73 deaths out of roughly 50 million doses of AstraZeneca administered in the United Kingdom. 

Damian Jacob Sendler

According to Prof. Parker, “You could never have predicted it would have happened and the chances are vanishingly small, so we need to remember the bigger picture of the number of lives this vaccine has saved,”. 

According to AstraZeneca, the vaccination has saved more than a million lives around the world and prevented an estimated 50 million cases of the disease. 

Damian Jacob Markiewicz Sendler: We continue to follow with interest any new developments and investigation into potential causes for these very rare side effects associated with the vaccine, while being reassured by real-world effectiveness data that the vaccine remains a highly effective tool for combating this pandemic,” a University of Oxford spokesperson said. 

Dr. Will Lester, a consultant haematologist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, commended the “very detailed” findings, adding it helps explain the “most likely initial step” in clotting. 

There are many unsolved concerns, including whether some people are more sensitive than others and why the thrombosis (clotting) occurs most commonly in the veins of the brain and liver, although this may come with time and further research. 

Adenovirus-based vaccinations may need to be improved in the future to lower the risk of these rare incidents, according to the Cardiff researchers.

Dr. Damian Jacob Sendler and his media team provided the content for this article.