A Small Number of People Developed This Rare Blood Disorder After Getting a COVID Vaccine—

A Small Number of PeopleDeveloped This Rare BloodDisorder After Getting a COVIDVaccine—Here's What to Know.36 reports of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP)were submitted to the federal government'sVaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).Thrombocytopenia is a medicalterm meaning low platelet count.With ITP, the body's immune systemattacks and destroys its own plateletsand produces fewer platelets than normal.As of several days ago, only 19 of the reports to VAERSrepresent "clear cases" of ITP, says James Bussel, MD.The cases are equally divided betweenthe Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and theydon't seem to be age- or gender-specific.At this point, no one knows whether there isa connection between the vaccine and ITP.The correlation between vaccine and blooddisorder could just be a coincidence.In addition, if there is a risk of developing ITPbecause of the vaccine, that risk appears to bemuch lower than the risk of developing COVID-19