At least one volunteer for vaccine trials also developed unusual blood clots after receiving the coronavirus vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, a top official of the company said Wednesday.
Dr. Aran Maree, chief medical officer of J & J’s vaccine-poor Janssen, said blood clots were seen in two patients in phase 3 vaccine trials – one who received a vaccine and one who received a placebo shot.
Maree also outlined a seventh possible case at an emergency meeting of the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
There was one case of the type of blood clot, known as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST), in September during the phase 3 trial of the single-dose vaccine, Maree said. It concerns a 25-year-old white man who has recovered. In addition, a 59-year-old woman developed a series of blood clots known as deep vein thrombosis or DVTs.
The company is looking for more possible business, Maree said.
“There is also an ongoing study in South African health professionals, a large open study, which currently enrolled 272,438 participants,” Maree said. “We have not had any reports of CVST yet. We have had one case of pulmonary embolism.”
A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot in the lung.