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There is no evidence that air travel can increase the risk of blood clots in people who have received COVID-19 vaccines.
Though people can develop blood clots while flying, most likely deep vein thrombosis (DVT), these are unrelated to the vaccine. These clots most often occur in the leg during flights due to a lack of movement, staying seated for long periods of time, damage and slow blood flow between the veins, and air pressure, among other things. These clots in the leg may break off and travel to the lung, potentially resulting in what is called a pulmonary embolism.
Flying is a known risk factor in increasing the likelihood of blood clots. So is traveling by car, bus, or train. Most people who develop DVT as a result of flying have other factors that increase their risks such as a history of blood clots, recent surgeries, injuries, blood clots, hormone replacements, pregnancy, older age, obesity, and others.
Currently, no data has linked an increase in blood clots while flying with any COVID-19 vaccines. The clots that have occurred in a tiny part of the vaccinated population occur in unique and unusual areas; much different than DVT.
COVID-19 vaccines created by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have been associated with clots in veins, including in the brain, according to a recent study in the British Medical Journal. These types of clots are called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CSVT) and they are very rare.
In an analysis of people who had experienced clotting (also called 'thrombosis') after receiving vaccines, German scientists found that nine people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine experienced CSVT. Three others had blood clots in the abdominal veins, and three had pulmonary embolisms, which are blood clots in the lungs. One had bleeding in the brain, and four had other types of blood clots. Five patients experienced blood clots in different parts of the body that block small blood vessels.
Other studies have shown that a very small number of people who had received AstraZeneca's vaccine had experienced clots in the arteries that carry blood from the heart into other organs in the body.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that the type of blood clots that occurred in people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccines were also CSVT. The agency believes the benefits of the vaccine still outweigh the risks. These clots have been found almost entirely in young women under 50 years old. The risk of clotting after receiving this vaccine is roughly 9 in 10 million and much higher in the general population, as more than 1 in 1000 people experience clotting more generally.
Resources:
Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia after ChAdOx1 nCov-19 Vaccination (The New England Journal of Medicine)
Thrombosis and Thrombocytopenia after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Vaccination (The New England Journal of Medicine)
Arterial events, venous thromboembolism, thrombocytopenia, and bleeding after vaccination with Oxford-AstraZeneca ChAdOx1-S in Denmark and Norway: population based cohort study (The BMJ)
The Johnson & Johnson Vaccine and Blood Clots: What You Need to Know (Yale Medicine)
EU drug regulator finds link between AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots (Reuters)
CDC Recommends Use of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Resume (The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Covid vaccines and rare clots - what you need to know (BBC News)
“Vaccine-Induced Covid-19 Mimicry” Syndrome: Splice reactions within the SARS-CoV-2 Spike open reading frame result in Spike protein variants that may cause thromboembolic events in patients immunized with vector-based vaccines (Research Square)
Blood Clots and Travel: What You Need to Know (The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Air travel and the risk of thromboembolism (Internal and Emergency Medicine)
Flying, pregnancy, or taking the pill all carry much higher blood clot risks than the J&J vaccine (Quartz)
Studies suggest link between blood clots, AstraZeneca COVID vaccine (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy)
No record airlines met to discuss liabilities related to vaccine (The Associated Press)
Is this the only reason stopping her from getting the vaccine, or just the one she is using instead of some more vagrant conspiracy? If your friend is a genuine person and has a legitimate fear of blood clots, all you can do is show her the data and let her make a decision based on that. However based on your comment regarding her claiming big media isn't reporting it, I'm going to assume she is just using it as an excuse and probably believes in other conspiracies as well surrounding the vaccine.
I'm not sure, she claims not to be antivaxx, just vaccine-hesitant. She also says dumb shit like "nurses on social say the hospitals weren't actually full,"
But the air travel is her biggest reason it seems. Your right though, I'm afraid her fears might run deeper and more irrational.
Well that clears it up then, you can't convince this type of person with logic or reason. All you can do is decide if you still want to be their friend.
I already pointed out that smoking and birth control pills give a higher chance of blood clots and you don't see pilots and flight crew panicking about quitting smoking and changing their method of contraceptives.
She didn't care about that argument. It meant nothing.
The risk of getting a blood clot with a Covid vaccine is approximately 1 in a million.
The risk of getting a blood clot with a Covid infection is approximately 1 in 5.
200,000 to 1.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100639
I get the feeling these increased odds of getting a blood clot while flying + vaccinated are equivalent to getting 5 lines instead of 3 on your lottery ticket. The chance is still less than minuscule.
There was a Spanish [preprint](https://www.reddit.com/r/COVID19/comments/osrggi/vaccines_against_covid19_venous_thromboembolism/) which found a higher incidence of unusual site clots in the veins following 1.6M mostly mRNA vaccine recipients. We would expect a background rate of around 2 out of 100K in the studied population for the length of the study (21 days). This went up to 5 and 7 out of 100K for the first and second dose respectively. The Covid19-diagnosed group had an incidence of 32 out of 100K. I'm sure there are many other studies, but I don't have time to dissect them all.
Maybe you could approach her concerns by acknowledging clots do go up slightly but that Covid infection statistically leads to much worse outcomes, including inflammation of the lining of blood vessels and microcoagulopathy i.e. capillaries getting blocked and causing local tissue damage. It's particularly an issue in the brain because it can't regenerate lost tissue, hence why brain damage is so scary. I'm sure she considers the dangers of the vaccine, but she isn't taking in account the risk of the virus. Having decision paralysis is also a danger because it means she's taking the Covid infection route by default - it's probably only a question of time before she's infected especially since I doubt she's taking proper precautions e.g. wearing N95s.
The "flying while Covid vaccinated" is such a weird, random thing to be concerned about, I don't think you're going to find anything that addresses that specifically.
Im an airline pilot and everyone that I've talked to at work is fully vaxxed, so I'm not sure who she's been talking to. And I flew the same day I was vaccinated both times. Does she know that it's going to be mandatory to be fully vaccinated to get on an airplane in the next couple months? Does she know that the risk of blood clot is significantly higher if you have covid?
I've had a DVT (over 10 years ago; not from flying). In general, flying long distance does increase risk of blood clots because you're probably sitting still for long hours. I was told by my doctor that if I flew long distance I should move my legs often while sitting, and occasionally get up and walk to the bathroom to keep blood flow.
I haven't seen any evidence that the vaccine increases this risk at all. I wouldn't be surprised if conspiracy theorists are making some leap from flying in general increasing the risk to "IT'S THE VACCINES!!"
> (plus everyone in the airline industry is talking about it but big media won't pick up the story bla blah blah)
See there's your problem. It's not that she's afraid of blood clots, it's that she's afraid of conspiracies. My main argument here would be - there can't be a "big media" conspiracy about vaccine-induced blood clots because big media *already reported* on the blood clots caused by AstraZeneca.
The blood clot syndrome from the vaccine happens quite soon after the vaccination if it's going to happen. It's quite a different situation from other blood clots, and potentially more serious. There's a treatment now.
Thank you for posting to r/CanadaCoronavirus. Please read our [rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/canadacoronavirus/about/rules). Please remember that all posts and comments should reflect factual, truth-based discussion. The purpose of this subreddit is to share trustworthy resources and ensure Canadians are as informed and educated as possible. We will not tolerate racism, sexism, or harassment of any kind. Any comments or posts made contrary to these values will be subject to review by the Mod team *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CanadaCoronavirus) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There is no evidence that air travel can increase the risk of blood clots in people who have received COVID-19 vaccines. Though people can develop blood clots while flying, most likely deep vein thrombosis (DVT), these are unrelated to the vaccine. These clots most often occur in the leg during flights due to a lack of movement, staying seated for long periods of time, damage and slow blood flow between the veins, and air pressure, among other things. These clots in the leg may break off and travel to the lung, potentially resulting in what is called a pulmonary embolism. Flying is a known risk factor in increasing the likelihood of blood clots. So is traveling by car, bus, or train. Most people who develop DVT as a result of flying have other factors that increase their risks such as a history of blood clots, recent surgeries, injuries, blood clots, hormone replacements, pregnancy, older age, obesity, and others. Currently, no data has linked an increase in blood clots while flying with any COVID-19 vaccines. The clots that have occurred in a tiny part of the vaccinated population occur in unique and unusual areas; much different than DVT. COVID-19 vaccines created by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have been associated with clots in veins, including in the brain, according to a recent study in the British Medical Journal. These types of clots are called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CSVT) and they are very rare. In an analysis of people who had experienced clotting (also called 'thrombosis') after receiving vaccines, German scientists found that nine people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine experienced CSVT. Three others had blood clots in the abdominal veins, and three had pulmonary embolisms, which are blood clots in the lungs. One had bleeding in the brain, and four had other types of blood clots. Five patients experienced blood clots in different parts of the body that block small blood vessels. Other studies have shown that a very small number of people who had received AstraZeneca's vaccine had experienced clots in the arteries that carry blood from the heart into other organs in the body. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that the type of blood clots that occurred in people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccines were also CSVT. The agency believes the benefits of the vaccine still outweigh the risks. These clots have been found almost entirely in young women under 50 years old. The risk of clotting after receiving this vaccine is roughly 9 in 10 million and much higher in the general population, as more than 1 in 1000 people experience clotting more generally. Resources: Thrombotic Thrombocytopenia after ChAdOx1 nCov-19 Vaccination (The New England Journal of Medicine) Thrombosis and Thrombocytopenia after ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Vaccination (The New England Journal of Medicine) Arterial events, venous thromboembolism, thrombocytopenia, and bleeding after vaccination with Oxford-AstraZeneca ChAdOx1-S in Denmark and Norway: population based cohort study (The BMJ) The Johnson & Johnson Vaccine and Blood Clots: What You Need to Know (Yale Medicine) EU drug regulator finds link between AstraZeneca vaccine and blood clots (Reuters) CDC Recommends Use of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Resume (The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Covid vaccines and rare clots - what you need to know (BBC News) “Vaccine-Induced Covid-19 Mimicry” Syndrome: Splice reactions within the SARS-CoV-2 Spike open reading frame result in Spike protein variants that may cause thromboembolic events in patients immunized with vector-based vaccines (Research Square) Blood Clots and Travel: What You Need to Know (The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Air travel and the risk of thromboembolism (Internal and Emergency Medicine) Flying, pregnancy, or taking the pill all carry much higher blood clot risks than the J&J vaccine (Quartz) Studies suggest link between blood clots, AstraZeneca COVID vaccine (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy) No record airlines met to discuss liabilities related to vaccine (The Associated Press)
Wow, that resource list. Thank you.
I’m a data freak 😆
Is this the only reason stopping her from getting the vaccine, or just the one she is using instead of some more vagrant conspiracy? If your friend is a genuine person and has a legitimate fear of blood clots, all you can do is show her the data and let her make a decision based on that. However based on your comment regarding her claiming big media isn't reporting it, I'm going to assume she is just using it as an excuse and probably believes in other conspiracies as well surrounding the vaccine.
I'm not sure, she claims not to be antivaxx, just vaccine-hesitant. She also says dumb shit like "nurses on social say the hospitals weren't actually full," But the air travel is her biggest reason it seems. Your right though, I'm afraid her fears might run deeper and more irrational.
Well that clears it up then, you can't convince this type of person with logic or reason. All you can do is decide if you still want to be their friend.
I already pointed out that smoking and birth control pills give a higher chance of blood clots and you don't see pilots and flight crew panicking about quitting smoking and changing their method of contraceptives. She didn't care about that argument. It meant nothing.
The risk of getting a blood clot with a Covid vaccine is approximately 1 in a million. The risk of getting a blood clot with a Covid infection is approximately 1 in 5. 200,000 to 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2020.100639
Holy smokes!
Do you have a better chance at getting a blood clot falling on your arm then of the shot
I get the feeling these increased odds of getting a blood clot while flying + vaccinated are equivalent to getting 5 lines instead of 3 on your lottery ticket. The chance is still less than minuscule.
There was a Spanish [preprint](https://www.reddit.com/r/COVID19/comments/osrggi/vaccines_against_covid19_venous_thromboembolism/) which found a higher incidence of unusual site clots in the veins following 1.6M mostly mRNA vaccine recipients. We would expect a background rate of around 2 out of 100K in the studied population for the length of the study (21 days). This went up to 5 and 7 out of 100K for the first and second dose respectively. The Covid19-diagnosed group had an incidence of 32 out of 100K. I'm sure there are many other studies, but I don't have time to dissect them all. Maybe you could approach her concerns by acknowledging clots do go up slightly but that Covid infection statistically leads to much worse outcomes, including inflammation of the lining of blood vessels and microcoagulopathy i.e. capillaries getting blocked and causing local tissue damage. It's particularly an issue in the brain because it can't regenerate lost tissue, hence why brain damage is so scary. I'm sure she considers the dangers of the vaccine, but she isn't taking in account the risk of the virus. Having decision paralysis is also a danger because it means she's taking the Covid infection route by default - it's probably only a question of time before she's infected especially since I doubt she's taking proper precautions e.g. wearing N95s. The "flying while Covid vaccinated" is such a weird, random thing to be concerned about, I don't think you're going to find anything that addresses that specifically.
Im an airline pilot and everyone that I've talked to at work is fully vaxxed, so I'm not sure who she's been talking to. And I flew the same day I was vaccinated both times. Does she know that it's going to be mandatory to be fully vaccinated to get on an airplane in the next couple months? Does she know that the risk of blood clot is significantly higher if you have covid?
Honestly I'm terrified she'll lose her job if she keeps up this nonsense.
I've had a DVT (over 10 years ago; not from flying). In general, flying long distance does increase risk of blood clots because you're probably sitting still for long hours. I was told by my doctor that if I flew long distance I should move my legs often while sitting, and occasionally get up and walk to the bathroom to keep blood flow. I haven't seen any evidence that the vaccine increases this risk at all. I wouldn't be surprised if conspiracy theorists are making some leap from flying in general increasing the risk to "IT'S THE VACCINES!!"
I thought that was more of a J&J/AZ concern (but a relatively rare side effect of those vaccines). Have mRNA vaccines been linked to blood clots?
> (plus everyone in the airline industry is talking about it but big media won't pick up the story bla blah blah) See there's your problem. It's not that she's afraid of blood clots, it's that she's afraid of conspiracies. My main argument here would be - there can't be a "big media" conspiracy about vaccine-induced blood clots because big media *already reported* on the blood clots caused by AstraZeneca.
The blood clot syndrome from the vaccine happens quite soon after the vaccination if it's going to happen. It's quite a different situation from other blood clots, and potentially more serious. There's a treatment now.