From News Nation:
“Johnson and Johnson vaccine
pause: Here’s what you should know”
The Food and Drug Administration
and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday recommended pausing the
use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine for at least a few days to
investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots. The one-shot
J&J was considered an important addition in bringing the vaccine into
harder-to-reach populations since it does not require cold storage or a second
appointment. More than 6.8 million doses of J&J have been administered,
according to the FDA.
Here’s what you need to know
about the shot and the pause:
WHO HAS THIS AFFECTED? Six
women under age 50 developed rare blood clots after receiving the shot,
according to a joint statement issued by the CDC and FDA Tuesday morning. All
six women were between the ages of 18 and 48, with symptoms occurring six to 13
days after the vaccination. One person died and all of the cases remain under
investigation. The clots occurred in veins that drain blood from the
brain and occurred together with low platelets, the fragments in blood that
normally form clots. The type of blood clot is called cerebral venous
sinus thrombosis. The clots occur in veins that drain blood from the brain and
occurred together with low platelets. This particular type of blood clot, health
experts emphasize, must be treated differently than other types — with different
blood thinners or antibody infusions rather than the typical heparin treatment.
WHAT IF I ALREADY GOT THE J
&J SHOT? Deputy director of the CDC, Dr. Anne Schuchat, said for those
who have received their vaccines at least a month ago or more, the risk of
developing the clots is “very low at this time.” Those who may have
gotten their Johnson & Johnson shots in the last couple of weeks should
monitor their symptoms. The clots have usually occurred about a week
after the shots and not longer than three weeks with a median of about nine
days after vaccination.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS? FAUCI
SAYS BE AWARE BUT DON’T FREAK OUT The agencies are recommending that people
who were given the J&J vaccine who are experiencing severe headache,
abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after
receiving the shot contact their health care provider. Dr. Anthony
Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, echoed the agencies Tuesday
saying the chances of the blood clots occurring are less than one in a million
but Americans should pay attention if they received the vaccine. “It’s
less than one in a million.” Fauci adds people should “pay attention” to
symptoms associated with the blood clots, particularly between one and three
weeks after the shot. “Don’t get an anxiety reaction,” Fauci said
Tuesday.
ARE THE OTHER VACCINES SAFE? CDC’s
Dr. Anne Schuchat said authorities have not seen similar clots after the use of
the two other authorized vaccines: Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Schuchat said
people should continue to get vaccinated with those shots. “There have
been no red flag signals from those,” Fauci said Tuesday.
CAN I STILL GET A VACCINE? Jeff
Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, said the J&J pause
will not have a “significant impact” on the country’s vaccination plan, adding
that J&J vaccines make up less than 5 percent of the recorded shots in arms
in the U.S. to date. “We have more than enough supply of Pfizer and
Moderna vaccines to continue the current pace of about 3 million shots per day,
and that puts us well on pace to meet the President’s goal of 200 million shots
by his first 100 days in office,” Zients said. About 74.1 million
people, or 22.3% of the U.S. population, have been fully inoculated with
COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer Inc/ BioNTech SE, Moderna Inc and Johnson
& Johnson, according to CDC data. 36.4% of the U.S. population or 120.8
million adults had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
WHAT’S NEXT AND HOW LONG WILL
THIS LAST? CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet
Wednesday to discuss the cases and the FDA has also launched an investigation
of the cases. “Until that process is complete, we are recommending a
pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution,” said Schuchat
and the FDA’s Dr. Peter Marks in a joint statement. The FDA said the
cases under investigation appear similar to unusual clots that European
authorities say are possibly linked to another COVID-19 vaccine not yet cleared
in the U.S., from AstraZeneca. European regulators have stressed that the
AstraZeneca risk appears to be lower than the possibility of developing clots
from birth control pills. J&J said in a statement it was aware of
the reports of blood clots, but that no link to its vaccine had been
established. The company also said it is delaying the rollout of its vaccine in
Europe as a precaution. Fauci says the pause by regulators is a
“testimony to how seriously we take safety” and says he expects the pause to
last days to weeks. Acting FDA commissioner, Dr. Janet Woodcock, also said the
recommended pause on the vaccine will likely last just a matter of days. “It
really allows both the FDA and the CDC to further investigate these cases to
try and understand,” Dr. Fauci said.
^ This is why some people are hesitant to get any vaccine – because all the Doctors and Officials always say that every vaccine is completely safe and effective (so that people will get it) and then you hear the stories of the bad side effects and Governments around the world stop using a vaccine like J&J. Health Officials and Government Officials will now have a much harder time convincing people that all vaccines – not just the J&J one - are safe and effective. We have been promised the world with these 3 vaccines and now reality is coming through. ^
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