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Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly says the adverse side effect linked with the AstraZeneca jab is “not a normal clotting mechanism” and appears to be “associated with vaccination."

“We’ve looked very carefully and our expert medical advice the ATAGI group … have looked at the information on this extremely rare, but often serious side effect,” he said.

“It’s not a normal clotting mechanism, this is actually a new disease, it’s become much clearer over the last couple of weeks that it’s associated with vaccination, specifically the AstraZeneca vaccination”.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and national health authorities last night announced the Pfizer vaccine is now the preferred vaccine for most Australians aged under 50 after concerns about rare blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Professor Kelly told Sky News the decision to change the advice surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine for those under 50 is based on the heightened risk of the rare side effect in younger people.

“There appears to be a trend for this to be a more common issue in younger people and that would make sense if its’s an immunological mechanism, the immune system is stronger in younger people than older people,” he said.

“Really, it’s that risk benefit equation, that’s what went into that cut off.

“Under that the risk is unacceptable compared with the benefit of the vaccine, over that the balance shifts."