A young nursing student who was hospitalised with three blood clots after receiving the AstraZeneca jab has continued to back the vaccine.
Ellie Peacock, who works in a Queensland hospital, says residents should still get the jab despite her bad experience after receiving her first dose on March 31.
Ms Peacock suffered severe headaches and chest pains and was diagnosed with pneumonia before doctors finally discovered three blood clots in her lungs.
The condition, known technically as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, is ‘very rare’, according to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), with the rates in Australia consistent with other countries.
Now the 18-year-old must get her blood tested every week, go in for a CT scan every month and take blood thinning medication for the next six months.
Despite all this she says residents should still get vaccinated, but to take into consideration advice from medical authorities.
‘I think people should still follow the TGA guidelines,’ she told A Current Affair.
‘I’m not an anti-vaxxer. I’ve never missed a vaccine in my life. I’ve never had side effects to any other vaccine. This is the first one I’ve had a reaction to.’
Ms Peacock received her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 31 and went to the emergency department on April 18 with what she claims were ‘signs of clotting’
Ms Peacock suffered severe headaches and chest pains and was diagnosed with pneumonia before doctors finally discovered three blood clots in her lungs
Ms Peacock said she had received a call from the Therapeutic Goods Administration confirming the blood clot was linked to the vaccine.
‘When the information, you know, from the database comes out, yes, her case will be counted amongst them,’ a TGA representative said.
The 18-year-old went to the emergency department at the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital with severe throbbing and tightness in her calf on April 18 and what she claims were ‘signs of clotting’.
But no blood clots were picked-up in an ultrasound and she was sent home where her pain subsided, the Courier-Mail reported.
The trainee nurse then started getting regular headaches and by May 7 Ms Peacock had severe pain near her collarbone while inhaling.
Two days later a chest x-ray identified she had pneumonia after she went back to hospital complaining of pain in her back and ribs.
She returned home again but on May 11, Ms Peacock was rushed to emergency at 2am after struggling to breathe.
‘I was sent home within six hours without further testing done and was told that it’s normal pain with pneumonia and that I need to put up with the pain until the medications start working,’ she said.
Ms Peacock was sent back to hospital after visiting her doctor two days later after her oxygen levels dropped to 90 per cent.
It was then the three blood clots were discovered on her right lung, along with a low platelet count.
Nursing student Eli Peacock has just been released from hospital after it was discovered she had three blood clots on her right lung
Ms Peacock was sent back to hospital after visiting her doctor two days later after her oxygen levels dropped to 90 per cent
‘The doctor believes the ultrasound they did on my calf back all that time, that the clot had already got to my pelvis, or, was too small to show in the ultrasound,’ she wrote in an Instagram story.
‘This experience has been terrifying and overwhelming but I’m on the mend. Now to focus on my health for the next six months.’
The TGA reported seven cases of a rare blood clotting condition linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine in its weekly Covid vaccine safety briefing on Thursday.
The authority said three cases were confirmed as a syndrome involving blood clots combined with a low platelet count – and four were deemed ‘probable’ cases.
The three confirmed cases are a 75-year-old man from Victoria, a 59-year-old man from Queensland, and a 75-year-old man from Western Australia.
The teenager now has to have regular CT scans and take blood thinning medication, along with having blood tests every four days and antibiotics for about six months
Ms Peacock took to Instagram to say the three blood clots were found only after she persisted for further testing
The TGA said two of the patients were treated and released from hospital while the third man is in a stable condition.
The four ‘probable’ cases are a man, 70, from NSW and three men, 65, 70 and 81, from Victoria.
Of the 1.8million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine given in Australia up to Thursday, there have been 18 confirmed blood clot cases.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd last week addressed concerns surrounding the vaccine.
Ms Peacock said her experience has been ‘terrifying and overwhelming’ but she is now on the mend and focusing on her health for the next six months
Professor Kidd said while the vaccine can cause blood clotting in people with low platelet counts he stressed that the chances of it happening are ‘very small’.
‘The serious risk disease and death from Covid-19, if we experience another severe outbreak… is far greater than the very small potential risk of a very rare clotting disorder associated with the vaccine,’ he said.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is currently only recommended for those aged over 50, who those under that age are advised to get the Pfizer jab.