US health authorities recommended a “pause” Tuesday in the use of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine “out of an abundance of caution” over potential links to a rare type of blood clot, in a blow to the country’s immunization campaign.
The US Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control are assessing the “potential significance” of six reported cases of a type of clot in the brain called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) in combination with low levels of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia).
As of Monday more than 6.8 million doses of the single-shot J&J vaccine had been administered in the US — meaning that the rare effect appears to have been detected in around one in a million cases.
The CDC will convene a meeting of a top expert committee on Wednesday to further assess these cases and their significance, and the FDA will also carry out its own investigation.
“Until that process is complete, we are recommending this pause out of an abundance of caution,” it said, to ensure the medical community was aware of the development and could develop appropriate treatment plans.
The pause deals a hit to the United States’ Covid vaccination campaign, which has so far administered 45 percent of the adult population at least one dose — among the most rapid rates in the world.–AFP
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