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J&J vaccine pause driven by risk of mistreating the blood clots

U.S. health officials recommended that the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine be paused so rare instances of blood clots in shot recipients could be evaluated. — © Patrick T. Fallon/AFP
U.S. health officials recommended that the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine be paused so rare instances of blood clots in shot recipients could be evaluated. — © Patrick T. Fallon/AFP

During the past month, American health officials have been following the reports coming out of Europe concerning people developing a particularly rare type of blood clot after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca PLC, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Then more recently, the CDC and FDA were made aware of six women ages 18 to 48 who developed clots in the brain within two weeks of receiving the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine. One died, and their devastating cases led U.S. health officials to recommend on Tuesday last week that the use of the vaccine be paused.

Four of the six women received the blood thinner heparin, a standard medication used in treating blood clots, however, its use in these cases may have been making things worse. One 48-year-old woman improved after the heparin was replaced by a different blood thinner, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Another case was detailed by the New York Times. The case in Nevada involved an 18-year-old woman. Doctors were surprised that one so young would develop such a rare blood clot. Scans found several large blood clots blocking veins that drain blood from the brain, a condition that can disable or kill a patient. Doctors performed a procedure to suction huge clots from her brain, only to find that new ones had formed.

“We were flying blind, based on reports from Europe and the UK hematological society,” says Dr. Brian Lipman, who helped care for the woman at Dignity Health St. Rose Dominican Hospital in Henderson. He was referencing the clots that emerged overseas in recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with similar technology as the J&J vaccine.

The NYT also notes that two more cases have popped up – including a man who developed clots during the vaccine’s clinical trials and a woman who received a shot after it was authorized for use. One woman in this group of eight cases has died.

The J&J vaccine is expected to be made available to the public again, following a meeting of health officials this coming Friday. There is still a question of if it will be made available to people over the age of 50 or be allowed to be given to the public along with warnings on its use.

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We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of our dear friend Karen Graham, who served as Editor-at-Large at Digital Journal. She was 78 years old. Karen's view of what is happening in our world was colored by her love of history and how the past influences events taking place today. Her belief in humankind's part in the care of the planet and our environment has led her to focus on the need for action in dealing with climate change. It was said by Geoffrey C. Ward, "Journalism is merely history's first draft." Everyone who writes about what is happening today is indeed, writing a small part of our history.

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