The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday strictly limited who can receive Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine due to a rare but serious risk of blood clots.
After ‘taking another look at the data’ on the risks of life-threatening blood clots, the FDA’s head of vaccines, Dr. Peter Marks, said that only adults who cannot receive a different vaccine, or specifically request J&J’s shot can get one, according to the Associated Press.
“If there’s an alternative that appears to be equally effective in preventing severe outcomes from COVID-19, we’d rather see people opting for that,” said Marks. “But we’ve been careful to say that– compared to no vaccine– this is still a better option.”
The problem occurs in the first two weeks after vaccination, he added: “So if you had the vaccine six months ago you can sleep soundly tonight knowing this isn’t an issue.”
The vaccine was initially considered an important tool in fighting the pandemic because it required only one shot. But the single-dose option proved less effective than two doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. -AP
The clotting is more common in women under 50, who suffered a fatality rate of roughly 1 per million shots, according to Marks. Overall, federal scientists flagged 60 cases of the side effect, including nine that were fatal.
According to Marks, the FDA ‘spent extra time’ evaluating whether the J&J vaccine clotting was connected to a separate issue such as birth control, which can raise the risk of clotting.
To nobody’s surprise, Twitter labeled the headline “Misleading” when tweeted by @Breaking911, however AP’s same exact headline wasn’t flagged.
Perhaps the Ministry of Disinformation can provide us with ‘context.’
