Photo: SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett On Tuesday, acting Food and Drug Administration chief Dr. Janet Woodcock announced that the agency, together with the Centers for Disease Control, would recommend a temporary pause on the use of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, citing rare, but severe, brain blood clots in six of the 7.5 million Americans who received the shot.
The CDC advisory committee has reviewed details from the six patients, all women between the ages of 18 and 48. Each patient developed the clots within one to three weeks of vaccination; one Virginia woman died, another patient in Nebraska is in critical condition, three more remain in the hospital, and two have been discharged.
At the meeting on Wednesday, a CDC official and a Johnson & Johnson executive added that all of the women were white, and only one was taking hormonal contraceptives, which can potentially cause blood clots. Aran Maree, the chief medical officer for the division of Johnson & Johnson that developed the vaccine, revealed that two additional clotting cases occurred during a clinical trial for the vaccine.
When the panel reconvenes in late April, they could vote to extend the total pause on J&J shots, recommend the vaccine be given only to specific groups, or recommend the vaccine for all adults over 18.
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