U.S. health officials recommended pausing administration of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday amid reports of rare but serious blood clots.
U.S. health officials recommended pausing administration of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday amid reports of rare but serious blood clots.”Hitting pause doesn’t mean there is a danger, it just means let’s step back and make sure everything is OK,” explained Dr. Doug Green, the chair of Immunology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced officials are investigating six cases in women between 18 and 48-years-old.”No association, no actual risk has been found as of yet,” Green explained. “These blood clots are occurring at the frequency that would be expected in the whole population.”Considering the 6.8 million J&J doses administered, these cases represent a very small percentage.”Now look at the risk of getting really sick from COVID-19. I don’t have to tell you that those risks are pretty scary, so balance risk with possible adverse effect,” Green said. The CDC estimates up to 600,000 blood clots are reported in the U.S. each year or around 1,600 a day.
