By B Izzak

KUWAIT: Health Minister Ahmad Al-Awadhi said on Thursday that the number of recorded clots in Kuwait has dropped significantly after the vaccination drive against the COVID-19 pandemic. In a reply to a question by MP Muhalhal Al-Mudhaf, the minister said that as many as 12,475 clots were recorded in Kuwait in 2021 compared to 15,000 strokes in 2019, the year before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic that required a world-wide vaccination drive.

Awadhi said that during the anti-COVID vaccination drive, Kuwait used 3.6 million of Pfizer and 2.8 million of Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccines. Reports have claimed that the use of COVID-19 vaccines accelerated the number of clots in the country. The minister also added that in 2020, a total of 10,870 clots took place, a sharp decline from the annual average before the pandemic.

He added that in 2018 and 2017, a total of 15,340 and 15,265 clots, respectively, took place. The minister also said that strokes that happened after receiving the vaccination are part of the rare side effects, adding that it was found that the number of blood coagulation cases after the vaccination was lower than those after the COVID-19 infection.