RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 VITT, COVID-19 and the Expert Haematology Panel: The story of how the UK responded to emerging cases of vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis during the vaccination programme
JF Clinical Medicine
JO Clin Med
FD Royal College of Physicians
SP e600
OP e602
DO 10.7861/clinmed.2021-0488
VO 21
IS 6
A1 Tim Chevassut
A1 Beverley J Hunt
A1 Sue Pavord
YR 2021
UL http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/21/6/e600.abstract
AB The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the development of highly effective vaccines that provide hope to the global community for reducing the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and limiting the mortality and morbidity caused by the disease. These vaccines have been produced using differing technologies, taken through clinical trials, and rolled out across the UK at unprecedented speed. However, the recent emergence of rare cases of life-threatening thrombosis in association with thrombocytopenia has threatened to derail one particular vaccine, the Oxford AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 vaccine, upon which many countries are dependent for their vaccination programmes. The story of how this situation has been managed in the UK at the height of the vaccine roll-out represents a remarkable collective endeavour on the part of the haematology community, working closely with other acute medical and surgical professionals within the NHS and the UK health regulatory bodies, to provide rapid expert guidance that has saved lives and helped keep the national vaccination programme on track.