WASHINGTON DC – U.S. federal authorities on Tuesday recommended “pausing” the administration of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson to investigate reports of potentially dangerous blood clots, which
In a joint statement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said they were investigating the thrombi detected in six women in the days following vaccination, combined with a reduced platelet count.
Federal authorities told a news conference Tuesday that all affected women are between the ages of 18 and 48. One woman died and a second Nebraska woman is hospitalized in serious condition.
More than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine have been administered in the United States.
USE OF VACCINE BRAINS IN FEDERAL CENTERS IN THE LARGE UNITED STATES
Federal distribution channels, including mass vaccination centers, will temporarily stop using the drug, and states and other providers are expected to do the same.
Two vaccines, that of Moderna and that of Pfizer, comprise the vast majority of inoculations administered in the United States and are not affected by the pause.
The CDC Immunization Practice Advisory Committee meets Wednesday to study the cases. The FDA has begun its own investigation.
“Until the process is complete, we recommend a pause in the use of this vaccine as a precaution,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, deputy director of the CDC, and Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biological Evaluation and Research at the FDA, in a joint statement.
THE DANGEROUS SYMPTOMS OF THE JOHNSON & JOHNSON VACCINE
Agencies recommend that those who have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and have experienced headaches, abdominal pain, leg pain, or difficulty breathing for three weeks after the injection contact their doctor.
Authorities said they want to train vaccine manufacturers and health professionals on the “singular treatment” for these blood clots.
JOHNSON & JOHNSON’S ANSWER ON BLOOD CLAMS
Johnson & Johnson claimed he was on target for the clots, but has insisted that a link to his vaccine has not yet been unequivocally established.
“We are aware of thromboembolic events, even some with thrombocytopenia, have been reported in connection with COVID-19 vaccines,” the company said in a statement. “To date, no clear causal relationship has been established between these unusual events and the vaccine,” he added.
Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine was authorized as an emergency remedy by the FDA in late February with great ceremony, in the hope that, by requiring a single dose and relatively easy storage conditions, it would boost the campaign. of vaccination nationwide.
However, this vaccine makes up only a small percentage of the two administered in the U.S., due to delays and errors at the plant of one of its contractors in Baltimore.