Three top federal health officials appeared on Capitol Hill on Thursday, begging Americans to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, but said little about investigating whether the Johnson & Johnson vaccine may have been linked to a small number of rare blood clots, or when that vaccine can be used again.
© Amr Alfiky / The New York Times
“Hopefully we will soon decide if we can get back on track with this very effective vaccine,” said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s leading coronavirus medical adviser, told a House panel.
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Dr. Fauci’s comments come as the future of the Johnson & Johnson one-vaccine hangs in the balance. Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for a break in vaccine use following reports of a small number of rare blood clots in recipients. Although it is unclear whether the vaccine was responsible for the blood clots, injections nationwide stopped abruptly.
An advisory panel of CDC on Wednesday suggested that it would take a week to ten days before they have enough information to assess the risks of the vaccine and make a decision about its future. Meanwhile, the officials – Dr. Fauci; Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director; and dr. David Kessler, who manages the Biden administration’s vaccine effort, urged Americans to continue vaccinating.
“I hope we can all get the message across,” especially amid the proliferation of worrying variants, said Dr. Kessler said, adding that the three federally authorized vaccines have an excellent safety profile. ‘
During a trial that lasted more than two hours, only one lawmaker – Representative Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican who is a doctor – asked about the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. He urged doctors to be careful when talking about the investigation, saying he was concerned it would cause fears that would discourage people from being vaccinated.
Whatever science is discussed is overshadowed by biased attitude and bickering. Republicans, who had just made a trip to the country’s southern border, used the session to attack the Biden administration’s handling of the immigration crisis; they blew up photos of migrants living in stressful conditions while complaining about the test rules for those entering the country.
Democrats blew up the Trump administration and asked softball questions.
“Dr. Fauci, I love you,” California Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters, whose sister died of Covid-19, said at one point after telling Dr. Fauci how much she was on his council. rely.
Dr. Fauci, however, feels little love from the Republicans. He and Representative Jim Jordan, the Republican of Ohio, repeated their fierce clash from the last time Dr. Fauci testified before the panel in July 2020.
“You’re screaming again,” said Dr. Fauci said at one point.
“I do not want to,” replied Mr. Jordan.
“Yes, you are,” said Dr. Fauci insisted.
With worrying new variants of the spread of viruses, dr. Fauci and the other all three of the federally authorized vaccines – from Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna – have repeatedly been described as very safe and effective.
The blood clot reports were the second recent blow to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Earlier this month, a blend of ingredients in a Baltimore-owned plant in Baltimore destroyed up to 15 million doses of the vaccine. The FDA is now investigating the plant to see if any vaccine doses produced there could be released to the public.
About 7.7 million Americans received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which administered less than 4 percent of the more than 198 million doses across the country. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are much larger.
Officials note that the blood clots are extremely rare; the handful of cases represent less than one in one million recipients, although the incidence estimate may increase if more cases are reported.
Biden administration officials say the absence of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine could not have a major impact on the U.S. vaccination campaign. However, if the use of the vaccine is severely restricted worldwide, it could be disastrous for the global vaccination effort.
Health officials hoped the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, along with a similar vaccine developed by AstraZeneca, would help supply the world because it is cheaper and easier to store and handle than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
But there are also reports of rare blood clots in recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which has led a number of countries to reconsider their use. On Wednesday, Denmark, where two recipients suffered severe blood clots, permanently suspended use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
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