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Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) Associated with COVID-19 Vaccines: Its Safety, Security and Grave Concerns

Fathimath Ina
School of Medicine, The Maldives National University, Maldives
Aminath Efa
School of Medicine, The Maldives National University
Dr. Kannan | Bio
School of Medicine, The Maldives National University, Maldives
Dr. Razana | Bio
School of Medicine, The Maldives National University, Maldives
Dr. Zeba | Bio
School of Medicine, The Maldives National University, Maldives
Dr. Punya | Bio
School of Medicine, The Maldives National University, Maldives
Dr. Sheeza | Bio
School of Medicine, The Maldives National University, Maldives
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Copyright (c) 2025 Ethiopian Medical Journal

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  • Submited: August 19, 2024
  • Published: April 1, 2025

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic created public health catastrophes around the globe. On December 11, 2020, the first vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19) was introduced for emergency use authorization (EUA). Since then, there have been several COVID-19 vaccines available for the general public. The World Health Organization (WHO) approved more than thirteen COVID-19 vaccines to be used in different parts of the world.  The process of approval of a vaccine to be made available on the market requires rigorous quality control (QC) procedures and GCP compliant clinical trials. Due to the unprecedented mortality arising from COVID-19 infections, the vaccines were authorized for emergency use. Hence, some of the vaccines did not pass through rigorous approval process.. Recently, adverse effects from COVID-19 vaccines have been highlighted in studies, with reports ranging from mild to fatal reactions. In February 2024, AstraZeneca announced that its COVID-19 vaccines (Covishield and Vaxzevria), may induce thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) in vaccinated individuals. TTS may lead to internal blood clotting that affects various organs of the body. This can trigger complications such as myocardial infarction leading to cardiac arrest, stroke, acute kidney failure and encephalitis. TTS is rarely reported across the globe, and often fall within a three-month period post-administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. Hence, further study is required to identify the exact mechanism that leads to TTS from COVID-19 vaccines. 

 

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How to Cite
Shareef, F. I., Ibrahim, A. E., Subbaram, K., Faiz, R., Naher, Z. U., Manandhar, P. L., & Ali, S. (2025). Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) Associated with COVID-19 Vaccines: Its Safety, Security and Grave Concerns. Ethiopian Medical Journal, 63(2). Retrieved from https://emjema.org/index.php/EMJ/article/view/2715

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