The Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) vaccine break will take another week to ten days, after a vaccine advisory panel delayed a vote on recommendations to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and prevention on Wednesday.
The move, prompted by a handful of reports of blood clots two weeks after vaccination, has caused some consternation among health officials, who believe it is a mistake and could undermine the vaccine’s confidence.
Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, suggested that the health institutions that recommend the break could simply go ahead and create an exception for women between the ages of 18 and 48 – which includes the six cases of blood clots . .
The panel understands that of the more than 7 million J&J vaccines administered, seven blood clots were reported. Little details have been released about the seventh case as the company seeks information from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, approximately 1.5 million of the 7 million doses were administered to women aged 18-48 years.
This is why some experts support a recommendation such as Jha, saying that there is already too much at stake: the US is struggling with increasing cases, vaccination by vaccine and virus variants that threaten the progress with vaccinations.
Concerns about J & J’s vaccine are largely rooted in the potential global impact of the interruption or cessation of shot use, the only vaccine that is stable at room temperature. Any doubts about that could affect hard-to-reach areas around the world – including rural areas in America.
This is why dr. Michael Williams, director of the University of Virginia Center for Health Policy, told Yahoo Finance he was struggling with the panel’s decision because “perception drove this decision more than science.”
“The laden nature of where science currently resides in the American psyche, in direct response to the last government’s attack on science,” Williams said, increasing skepticism and mistrust.
Therefore, the nuanced level of discussion – which separates the cause of the blood clots with the association with vaccines – may be misinterpreted.
“To say that Covid vaccinations cause anything is tricky,” Williams said.
There are some vaccine experts who believe that there should be no restrictions at all.
NYU health bioethicist and professor Arthur Langlan told Yahoo Finance that the message should be: “keep vaccinating until we know what’s going on,” especially to stop vaccinating worldwide. combat.
“I’m not ready to tell someone with a million chances not to risk anything,” Caplan said.
Blood clots and COVID-19
Another piece in the puzzle is the appearance of blood clots in COVID-19 patients.
A recent study from the University of Oxford – which created the vaccine AstraZeneca (AZN) – summarized the incidence of blood clots in COVID-19 patients as well as vaccinated.
The findings, which have not yet been peer-reviewed, show that the specific incidence of blood clots – cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) – is 30% more likely in COVID-19 patients under the age of 30.
In addition, the incidence of CVT in individuals receiving the mRNA vaccines, such as shots from Pfizer (PFE) / BioNTech (BNTX) and Moderna (MRNA), is 4 out of 1 million.
Earlier this week, Moderna addressed these concerns in advance, saying after reports that more than 64.5 million doses had been administered worldwide, it did not indicate a link with blood clots.
Pfizer also noted that there is no evidence of a risk associated with using our COVID-19 vaccine, according to a statement to Yahoo Finance on Thursday.
Pfizer also noted that the CDC panel on Wednesday focused on a rare occurrence of blood clots “recorded after vaccination with the Johnson and Johnson adenovirus vaccine” and that the CDC reported that no similar findings were observed with the authorized Pfizer -BioNTech vaccine. “
Total experts point out that COVID-19 has a greater long-term impact and the threat of death compared to rare severe reactions such as blood clots, as a reason to stop the vaccinations of J&J.
Currently, more than half of the states heed the CDC and FDA recommendation to stop, and pharmacies such as Walgreens (WBA) and CVS (CVS) have canceled or rescheduled the J&J appointments.
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