“Very quickly we have brought the death rate down from 50% to 19%.”The condition is known as vaccine-induced thrombosis and thrombocytopenia – VITT for short.

“I had chest pains and thought I might be having a heart attack,” he says.

Hospital tests excluded heart trouble and he was discharged. But on the way home his haematologist rang to say he had a very low platelet count and needed to come back.

A CT scan revealed blood clots in his leg and lungs. By now his right leg had become swollen and “extraordinarily painful”, making it difficult to walk.

His case report was among the first referred to the medical regulator, the MHRA, which has highlighted a likely link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare condition: blood clots combined with low platelets – specialist blood cells which help stop bleeding.

There is still a lot of uncertainty about why the vaccine might be triggering the rare condition, which seems to be the result of an unusual immune response to the jab. To read the full story click the following link https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57260463