ATAGI factsheet to GPs on AstraZeneca vaccine risks ‘problematic’
The ATAGI document gives a skewed picture of risk in younger age groups, an expert says
A factsheet pitched as an aide for GPs in discussing the risks and benefits of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine with patients under 60 is just confusing, doctors say.
Last month, the Commonwealth Department of Health sent out the document detailing the risk of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) associated with the viral-vector vaccine.
Based on ATAGI figures, it uses three scenarios of low-, medium- or high-exposure to COVID-19 risk in Australia (see box below).
But infectious diseases physician Professor Robert Booy, said: “They show [TTS] risks that are lower in people in their 20s and 30s, higher in their 40s and then progressively lower for people in their 50s and 60s.”
