Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines are still being suspended after several patients who recently received the shot had rare but severe blood clots.
Click to expand
FOLLOWING
Six confirmed cases are being studied by the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Johnson & Johnson. It is not yet known whether the vaccine has a direct causal effect on the blood clots, but of the more than 7 million people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, only six cases were excluded – about one in a million .
© Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Powered by Microsoft News
MORE: CDC Panel Calls to Break J&J Vaccine Gather More Data
All cases were observed in women, between 18 and 48 years old.
A seventh possible case, involving a 28-year-old woman, was included on Wednesday as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices discussed whether it was recommended to lift the break or to give only the group. The committee said it needed more information on all the issues, and would continue to monitor more before making a recommendation.
“Everyone is in danger,” said Dr. Sarah Long, a professor of pediatrics at Drexel University. “And while it’s a very small risk, it’s so serious.”
© Rick West / Daily Herald via AP
A closed sign will be placed on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at the mass vaccination at Elgin’s Eastside Recreation Center in Elgin, Illinois, due to an interruption of the Johnson & Johnson vaccination.
Here are some of the ones we found out so far.
Of the six known cases so far, all are white females with an average age of 33. Within a week or two of being shot, they started getting headaches, some also having muscle aches, chills, fever, back pain and difficulty breathing.
Some of these are typical side effects of the vaccine, but the increasing severity of the symptoms was not. The clotting in the brain found in these women – clots that form in the sinuses of the brain and clog their drainage system – were also different.
MORE: Worried about your J & J COVID vaccine as shots are interrupted? Do not be, experts say.
Three women remain in hospital, with two in intensive care.
A 45-year-old woman living in Virginia has passed away. She received the J&J vaccine in early March and 11 days after taking the shot, she was admitted to the hospital with serious adverse symptoms. She died a week later, on March 18.
In Nebraska, a 48-year-old woman with an ‘unremarkable’ medical history has been taken to the ER in the past after three days of malaise and abdominal pain. She remains critically ill.
© Jessica Hill / AP, FILE
A slide with the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine will be held by a pharmacist at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Conn., March 3, 2021.
Another woman (38) also had cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, or CVST. She did not recover.
A 59-year-old woman without a known coronary artery disease who took the J&J vaccine had extensive deep venous thrombosis on her left side seven days after she took the shot. She did not recover.
MORE: The interruption of Johnson & Johnson vaccines shows that the monitoring system is working: experts
An 18-year-old man in Nevada with unknown risk factors got the chance and two weeks later he got CVST with bleeding. She has not yet recovered.
A 26-year-old woman with obesity in the New Jersey-Pennsylvania area got the chance and started having symptoms seven days later. She has since been discharged from hospital.
© Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images, FILE
A syringe is filled with a dose of Johnson & Johnson Janssen COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site on March 13, 2021m in Delano, California.
As the shots of Johnson and Johnson were let down, in anticipation of a deeper insight into who might be in danger, the members of the panel members recognized the fine balance of rushing forward to defeat the virus and its variants, but to do it safely.
“This is so challenging because the impact of ACIP decisions on the global scene is clear,” he said. Grace Lee, co-chair of a panel on the committee, said. “I feel like we’re in a race against time and the variants, but we have to do it the safest way.”
The CDC says that anyone who has recently received the J&J vaccine should be aware of severe headaches, severe abdominal pain or shortness of breath within a week to three weeks after the injection, and should seek medical help and name your vaccination if it happen. They should do diagnostic tests to see if they should avoid the blood thinner heparin during your treatment.
ABC News, Eric M. Strauss, Sony Salzman and Stephanie Ebbs contributed to this report.
Read more