The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that the federal government has decided to suspend administration of the Johnson vaccine and called on states to stop administering it because six people in the country recently developed blood clots after receiving Johnson & Johnson’s Wuhan pneumonia (novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19) vaccine.
The New York Times reported that the six cases of blood clots were all women, ranging in age from 18 to 48 years old, one of whom unfortunately died and the other was in critical condition.
In a joint statement, Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Division of Biologics and Research, and Anne Schuchat, chief deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said, “Although this adverse reaction appears to be extremely rare at this time, we recommend suspending the use of this vaccine.”
According to the CDC, about 7 million people in the U.S. have received the Johnson vaccine, while another 9 million doses are currently being shipped to the states.
After the official announcement, FDA and CDC experts will then carefully review the vaccine to confirm whether there is a link between the vaccine and the symptoms of blood clots and to discuss whether safe vaccination restrictions should be established, and the CDC will hold an emergency advisory meeting tomorrow, the report said.
For its part, Johnson & Johnson said in a press release, “We have been informed of the rumored association between blood clot symptoms, including platelet hypoplasia, and the vaccine, but to date, the causal relationship between the vaccine and these rare symptoms has not been confirmed.”
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