The CDC and the FDA have recommended an immediate pause in the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine because of the rare side effects, including blood clotting.
More than 6.8 million people have received the J&J vaccine in the United States, and as a result, only six people have suffered from a strange clotting condition.
Here’s what the FDA and CDC say you should do:
J&J Vaccine for Consumers
People who have received the J&J vaccine and who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or difficulty breathing within three weeks of vaccination should contact their healthcare provider. .
J&J vaccine for doctors
Healthcare providers are asked to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Notification System at https://vaers.hhs.gov/reportevent.html
The FDA and CDC offer this additional warning:
“The treatment of this specific type of blood clot is different from the treatment that could normally be given. In general, an anticoagulant drug called heparin is used to treat blood clots. In this context, the administration of heparin can be dangerous and alternative treatments need to be applied. “
What is causing this clotting?
It is not yet known why these strange blood clots occur in some patients receiving the J&J vaccine. The six people who experienced clots were women between the ages of 18 and 48, the FDA and the CDC said. They had what is called cerebral venous thrombosis, or CVST, as well as low levels of platelets in the blood.
So far, concern about unusual blood clots has focused on the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has not yet received authorization in the US. Last week, European regulators said they found a possible link between the injections and a very rare type of blood clot that occurs at the same time. with low blood platelets, one that seems to occur more in younger people.
J & J and AstraZeneca vaccines are made with the same technology. Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which train the body to recognize the rise in protein that covers the outer surface of the coronavirus, the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines use a cold virus, called adenovirus, to carry the beak gene in the body. J&J uses a human adenovirus to create its vaccine, while AstraZeneca uses a chimpanzee version.