My thanks to Mel for sending me the link to this video by Dr John Campbell. In it, Dr John explains new research that shows how and why AstraZeneca, and other adenovirus vaccines, can cause blood clotting in unlucky people. And it starts with how the vaccine is injected.
What should happen, according to Dr John, is that after the needle is pushed into your arm – but before the vaccine is injected! – the plunger is pulled back a little. The term for this is ‘aspirated’. If the needle has accidentally hit a blood vessel, a tiny bit of blood will be pulled back into the syringe.
If that happens, you pull the needle out and try a different spot!
Why? Because the research shows that if AZ is injected directly into the blood, it can trigger an immunological response that ends up with blood clots and low platelet count that kills people.
‘Hence, safe intramuscular injection, with aspiration prior to injection, could be a potential preventive measure when administering adenovirus-based vaccines.’
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.29.450356v1.abstract?%3Fcollection
And here is the whole video. The demonstration about how aspiration works starts at minute 9:43. If you keep watching you’ll see diagrams showing the deltoid muscle and the location of blood vessels. Most injections miss those blood vessels entirely, but they are there, and if you don’t aspirate you’ll never know if you’ve hit one.
This is the missing link that explains why some unlucky people end up dead.
It’s not an act of god, or one of those inexplicable bolts of lightning from a clear sky. People are dying because it’s faster and easier not to aspirate before injecting.
Getting the AZ vaccine seemed like Russian Roulette to me all along. Now I know I was right: the side-effects are preventable. All you have to do is take that one bullet out of the chamber…
I’m going to keep this post up for a while so it gets as much exposure as possible. Even if you’ve already been vaccinated, please tell your friends. If enough of us make a noise, the authorities may eventually take notice. And people will stop dying.
Meeks
Meeka's Mind 
October 24th, 2021 at 1:42 pm
For people who can tolerate the Astrazeneca vaccine, they are quite fortunate. I am confused as to the conflicting reports on this one.
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October 25th, 2021 at 12:17 pm
I shopped around until I found a medical centre that was prepared to aspiration the needle before vaccinating with AZ, so now I’ve had one jab.
My problem with AZ is, firstly, the lack of choice. At 68 it was AZ or nothing. That has now changed, but as we can’t mix and match vaccines, I’ll have to have a second AZ jab.
My second problem was the blood clotting. I hope the aspiration helps with that. I’ve also been told [by the GP] that it mostly affects young women. He didn’t explain why so…?
My third problem with AZ is the efficacy. Everything I’ve read says that peak protection is reached after an interval of 12 weeks between jabs [not 8 or 6 or 4]. As AZ provides less protection than the two mRNA vaccines anyway, I’m waiting for the full 12 weeks.
And finally, whilst I understand that even a little protection is better than none, the public health messaging has been…skewed in favour of populations and public healthcare rather than individual health. We didn’t have enough of the mRNA vaccines, for anyone, so they pushed AZ.
Time will tell whether that was a good policy decision or not. š¦
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October 25th, 2021 at 1:24 pm
I am not advocating for it. Just thinking that it would be more reasonable if people would be more honest bout it. Not a medical expert, however, if your health is good and you are doing all of the right things, that is a good thing.
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October 25th, 2021 at 3:49 pm
We’re all in uncharted territory at the moment. In the UK and the US, breakthrough infections are growing so vaccination is not the be-all and end-all. I think we’ll be taking other precautions as well for a long time to come.
Stay well. š
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October 26th, 2021 at 12:09 am
I plan to.
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September 29th, 2021 at 7:13 pm
[…] time ago, I posted about the need to aspirate the needle before injecting with AstraZeneca vaccine. When I finally had […]
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July 6th, 2021 at 11:09 am
This is really interesting, Meeks, and gives a sound reason for why the vaccine creates the blood clots. I am interested in Dale’s question about why it doesn’t happen with more vaccinations and injections in general. And I know you don’t know the answer!
I have had the first dose of AZ, and waiting for the second in a month or two. I felt poorly for about 24 hours, and then fine. Like so many, I am appalled by the StrollOut of our vaccination process. The dithering, mixed messages, lack of supply has been exacerbated by Morrison’s clumsy and dangerous attempts to be the hero.
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July 6th, 2021 at 2:04 pm
Congratulations, Anne. You’re miles braver than me. I’m very glad your first jab had very few side-effects. And I’m glad you didn’t tell me until now. :p Would have been so worried.
And you’re right about the StrollOut. It’s been a dismal failure, in large part because of Scomo’s attempt to regain respect lost after the bushfires, but also because they farmed the vaccination job out to inexperienced private companies. More of the damned ‘profit motive’. Grrrr….
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July 6th, 2021 at 7:48 am
I’m glad the Astra-Zeneca didn’t even come my way … I had the Modena this time around, and I don’t feel as crappy as I did with the Pfizer. 5 days out and I’m only feeling a little bit seedy. š
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July 6th, 2021 at 9:57 am
Both the Pfizer and Moderna have an efficacy up in the low 90% level whereas the AZ is at 80%…at /best/ and that requires a 3 month gap between the first and second jab. So less efficacy, a longer danger period, /and/ the risk of fatal complications. Not great.
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July 5th, 2021 at 9:43 pm
So interesting! I haven’t heard about this (sensible) way of injecting a vaccine. Makes so much sense. I had the J & J in March. Fortunately no side effects. The rest of my family had Pfizer. My 12-year-old grandkids (one in California, one in Massachusetts) both got the Pfizer. It’s been such a sense of freedom to hug them all again. But it’s all about the science, and your post here makes scientific sense.
On an entirely different matter, my guy and I have been watching a show called A Place to Call Home set in Australia. Friends told us about it (they’re addicted to it, in a good way). š I found out that it’s been around since 2013? Have you watched it? Happy July!
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July 6th, 2021 at 10:01 am
I envy you. We haven’t seen family since before the pandemic [threat of bushfires]. Just so grateful the Offspring and I are together.
Re A Place to Call Home – no? But that’s not saying much as I watch very little tv – mostly just the news and a current affairs program. I’ll have to look it up. Glad you’re enjoying it. š
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July 5th, 2021 at 9:33 pm
Meeks, don’t be sorry, it was a curiousity question. I take heart that we are likeminded ā”
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July 6th, 2021 at 10:02 am
High Five, Dale. š š š
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July 5th, 2021 at 6:34 pm
I like that you are gathering information and assessing. Makes so much sense. I’d be interested to understand why aspiration technique would be an issue with one vaccine but not another. While I exercise my choice and right to wait and see, I’m tired of being labelled “vaccine hesitant” which I’m not. As with other things, I like to take my time, and I don’t feel -because I’m happy to and can stay at home- like I’m as at risk at many others who can’t or won’t.
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July 5th, 2021 at 8:09 pm
I wish I could answer your question about why an adenovirus vaccine would trigger this reaction but I honestly don’t know. I listened to the video but most of the terminology was beyond. The one thing i do remember is that macrophages eat bacteria so maybe? the composition of the vaccine itself sets off an alarm reaction in the blood? Bah…totally guessing, sorry.
Like you, I reserve the right to wait until I’m sure the ‘cure’ isn’t worse than the disease. And like you, I can isolate which makes a huge difference.
Fingers crossed this gets sorted before we have to make any dangerous decisions.
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September 28th, 2021 at 4:10 pm
The cause of the blood clots, and hence the need for the aspiration method of injection is present only in the viral vector vaccines. The viral vector, when injected into the bloodstream binds to platelet factor-4 and causes the catastrophic clotting event. Both AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are viral vector vaccines
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September 28th, 2021 at 8:07 pm
Ah, thank you for the explanation! Now I’m doubly glad I insisted on having the needle aspirated when I had the AZ jab.
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July 5th, 2021 at 6:17 pm
Life gets more and more like a lottery every blooming day!
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July 5th, 2021 at 8:10 pm
It’s definitely felt like that. š¦
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July 5th, 2021 at 4:59 pm
Very very interesting. As a nurse I was trained to aspirate in the gluteal rather than the deltoid as the likelihood of hitting a blood vessel was very little. From the Covid-19 vaccines Iāve seen performed rarely have I seen nurses aspirate. This is something that needs to be taken forward…. seriously
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July 5th, 2021 at 8:14 pm
Hi Vanessa. Lovely to hear from a medical professional. I keep thinking about how unlucky you’d have to be to have the needle hit one of those tucked away blood vessels behind? the deltoid. But perhaps that degree of rare bad luck is precisely why the blood clots are rare as well. It seems almost too simple to be true and yet….
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July 5th, 2021 at 3:39 pm
My next-door neighbor was a big anti-vax person who went around telling anyone who would listen to him that Covid was all fake. Sadly, he just passed at 52 from Covid with a girlfriend and son left behind. The other two also got sick but recovered. Obviously, the vaccinations must be given correctly. Thanks for this information.
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July 5th, 2021 at 4:01 pm
Thanks Pete. Just for the record, I’m not an anti-vaxxer, I’m just anti AstraZeneca. The Offspring has been fully vaccinated with Pfizer, but because I’m over 60, I’m only offered the AZ vaccine.
Sadly the controversy, national pride, and pig-headedness surrounding AZ has meant that politicians don’t want to know about its teething problems. That has led directly to conspiracy theories and vaccine hesitancy, at least here in Australia. š¦
As Dr John says, try aspirating for a couple of months. If nothing changes, then the research is wrong.. But if it’s right, people will live who might otherwise have died. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
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July 5th, 2021 at 2:03 pm
I would love to understand why nurses stopped aspirating in the first place. It does seem like such a basic thing to do if it can prevent a dose of vaccine from going to the wrong place — and save lives in the process! Thanks for the shout-out, Meeks!
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July 5th, 2021 at 4:04 pm
I’m with you Mel. Perhaps it’s considered to be ‘old fashioned’. I honestly don’t know, but from what others have said, it /used/ to be the norm so reinstating it should not be a radical thing.
Very welcome, Mel. I truly am grateful for your info. If I could find a doctor prepared to /listen/ and to give me the jabs the ‘old fashioned’ way, I’d get my first shot tomorrow. -sigh- Fat chance of that.
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July 5th, 2021 at 10:58 am
This sounds scary that basic safety measures are not being adhered to in the race to get everyone vaccinated…
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July 5th, 2021 at 4:24 pm
I don’t know enough about the whole thing, Carol, but I think that ‘aspirating’ is something that’s gone out of favour rather than being a basic safety measure. I could be wrong though. If it’s simply gone out of fashion, I hope they bring it back!
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July 5th, 2021 at 5:05 pm
Neither do I but it scares me when something as simple to do is not…
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July 5th, 2021 at 8:11 pm
Yes! Especially as I believe it used to be the ‘norm’. I’m actually considering ringing my location GP and quizzing them on this.
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July 5th, 2021 at 8:41 pm
That sounds like a plan
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July 6th, 2021 at 10:02 am
Worth a try. š
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July 5th, 2021 at 10:05 am
Dear Meeka,
Very few nurses aspirate their syringes nowadays. Aspiration used to be far more common.
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July 5th, 2021 at 10:10 am
Hi SoundEagle. I have no medical background at all so this was literally me learning what aspiration was. According to Dr John, Chinese nurses always aspirate. What value ‘efficiency’ if it costs even one, single human life? š¦
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July 5th, 2021 at 10:12 am
I can’t agree with you more.
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July 5th, 2021 at 4:27 pm
Thanks. š
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