According to NYTimes.com, 28 cases of a rare type of blood clot in adults who have received Johnson & Johnson (J&J)’s Covid-19 vaccine have been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The confirmation of the new cases was presented yesterday at a meeting of a panel of advisers to the C.D.C. The presentation was conducted by the deputy director of the immunization safety office at CDC, Dr. Tom Shimabukuro.
Shimabukuro’s report raises the number of confirmed blood clot cases suspected to be caused by the J&J shot from 15. And what’s different about the new report is that the new confirmed cases involved six men; the first confirmed cases all involved women.
Still, women between the ages of 30 and 49 apparently are at a higher risk of developing blood clots, which occur most often in the brain. The clots are accompanied by low levels of platelets, which promote blood clotting.
Per the New York Times, Dr. Shimabukuro said that the disorder is a “rare, clinically serious and potentially life-threatening condition.”
J&J’s Covid-19 vaccine was paused last month for 10 days after six women were reported to have developed the blood clots after receiving the single-dose disabled adenovirus injection.
Although the suspension was lifted, a warning was added to the J&J Covid-19 vaccine’s label. The warning describes the association between the vaccine and the risk of blood clotting as “plausible.”
NYTimes.com says that of the confirmed cases, three people have died and four remain hospitalized, including one who is in intensive care. No new deaths have been documented since last month’s meeting, Dr. Shimabukuro said.
Health officials maintain that the overall risk of developing the blood clots is extremely low, as more than 9 million doses of the J&J’s vaccine have now been administered in the United States.
In the highest risk groups, (women between 30-49) there have been up to 12.4 cases of blood clots per million doses (9.4 cases for women between 40 and 49). Factoring in all adults of both sexes and ages who have received the J&J jab, the incidence of blood clots is fewer than 3 cases per million doses.
Like the J&J vaccine, AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 injection, which uses the same inactivated adenovirus technology, has been associated with rare blood clot disorders. According to ChildrensHealthDefense.org (CHD), Brazil has suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for expectant mothers following the death of a 35-year-old pregnant woman who experienced a stroke, which may have been caused by the vaccine.
New research in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) confirmed evidence of blood clotting and found a small risk after receiving just one dose of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
Meanwhile, Norway announced it would keep J&J’s Covid-19 vaccine on hold and suspend AstraZeneca’s. Denmark was the first country in Europe to officially drop AstraZeneca and J&J’s vaccines due to the risk of blood clots, per CHD. Other countries and two Canadian provinces have halted use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine for their respective vaccination programs, while the European Union announced it will not renew a contract with AstraZeneca.
No confirmed cases of rare blood clotting have been reported with the two types of mRNA vaccines approved for emergency use authorization, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
