A Mississippi man who developed a blood clot after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine was left paralyzed on one side of his body and could not speak, his family said.
The 43-year-old Brad Malagarie of St. Martin suffered a stroke shortly after retiring last week to receive the one dose, WLOX news station reported.
“They called me and said he had the vaccine and that something was wrong. We think it’s a stroke, ” his aunt, Celeste Foster O’Keefe, told the outlet.
The father of seven was rushed to hospital, where they determined he had a stroke due to a blood clot in his brain.
“I said you should tell the doctors that he had the J&J vaccine and that it caused me the stroke,” his aunt said.
O’Keefe said he was taking medication for high blood pressure, but that he was otherwise a ‘young, healthy’ man.
The medical episode left him paralyzed on the right side of his body, she said.
“He can not speak now and he can not walk. He is paralyzed on the right side. “He knows who we are and he will only cry when he sees us,” O’Keefe said.
She said doctors do not know how long it will take to recover.
“We want him to be able to communicate, walk and talk again, even if it’s not perfect,” O’Keefe said.
Federal regulators on Tuesday suspended the use of the one-dose J&J shot after six women between the ages of 18 and 48 developed blood clots, including one who died.
The drugmaker announced two more cases to recipients on Wednesday – including one man.
It is unclear whether the vaccination is related to the rare cases of blood clotting, which occurred in more than 7.2 million people who received the vaccine.
“The CDC and FDA are working quickly to investigate each case and understand whether there is a causal link between these blood clots and vaccine administration,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said.