An expert in strokes has warned that there is a “substantially higher” risk of suffering a stroke through Covid than from taking the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Professor Joe Harbison, who is also clinical lead of the Irish national audit of stroke, told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that “one to two per cent” of people hospitalised with Covid during the first wave suffered stroke.
“We're also seeing more large vessel strokes occurring in young people with Covid. It's one of these hidden complications of Covid that really hasn't been much publicised.”
One in a million chance
Prof. Harbison said the AstraZeneca vaccine was “pretty clearly safe” with “less than a one in a million chance of developing a problem”.
“The reason they are concerned is this type of clot is a reasonably uncommon clot and that's occurring in the brain and it can occasionally result in stroke - it doesn't always result in stroke. It can be associated with stroke in younger people, but it has to be emphasised the risk of stroke from catching Covid-19 is substantially higher than the risk of developing any problem with the vaccine.
“About one to two per cent of people who are hospitalised with Covid, we're now discovering are suffering stroke, and we're also seeing more large vessel strokes occurring in young people with Covid. It's one of these hidden complications of Covid that really hasn't been much publicised.
“When we were doing the recent NOCA (National Office of Clinical Audit) report, looking at the experience of stroke services during the pandemic - it hasn’t been published yet, but we found that there were about 30 cases of stroke in Ireland during the first wave associated with Covid.”
That effectively meant there had been more cases of stroke in Ireland in the first wave associated with Covid, than all the cases on the planet associated with the vaccine, he said.
Smokers
Prof Harbison added that he would argue that the risk of developing cerebral sinus thrombosis was probably higher with something like the Oral Contraceptive Pill than it would be with the vaccine. There was also higher risk from being a smoker. “That would increase the risk of clotting far more than AstraZeneca.
“If they were to offer it to my family, I would say yes take it. It's much better to get the vaccine to be safe than risk Covid which can give you much more unpleasant side effects.”
