Brett Sutton said flying to Europe was riskier for clotting than getting the AstraZeneca vaccine. Was he right?

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton was among those showing up to get an AstraZeneca shot as the state’s three mass vaccination centres threw open their doors to an extended cohort on Wednesday. 

As he did, he declared: “You are more likely to get a clot, whatever age you are, on a long-haul flight to Europe or North America.”

So how does the rare clotting condition associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine compare with other types of blood clots we’re more familiar with?

Haematologist says long-haul flights are more risky

University of Adelaide haematologist and blood researcher Daniel Thomas said Professor Sutton’s comments were right and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) was “common”.

“There’s low pressure on planes, people’s knees…