The CDC and the FDA are calling for a pause in distribution of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine after six reported cases of a rare blood clotting issue. Seven million doses have already been distributed throughout the United States.
From the statement, ” (C)erebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) was seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets (thrombocytopenia). All six cases occurred among women between the ages of 18 and 48, and symptoms occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination.” A full explanation and analysis can be found in Tiff’s daily roundup, here.
This type of clotting is of particular concern because it cannot be safely treated with the standard anti-clotting medication of heparin.
While the danger is low, at a rate of less than one person in every million vaccinated, it is considered to be too high to be acceptable for the adult US population. Time must be taken to evaluate the risks and to ensure medical professionals in affected locations are appropriately prepared for emergencies.
In unrelated news, the rate of death from children who have contracted COVID-19 is roughly .01, or (choosing a random comparison number) about 700 out of 7 million. As of February, millions of American children had contracted COVID-19, with about 250 deaths and hundreds of thousands of cases of Long COVID-19. This has not diminished encouragement on the federal and state level to reopen schools. California has become the latest state to pursue fully open schools, with elementary schools shifted to five days a week as of yesterday, April 12.
In more unrelated news, Vinay Prasad, M.D. has been promoting the idea of pushing US children to the back of the global list for vaccinations, as presented in his most recent piece at MedPage Today. Prasad is a professor at University of California San Francisco with significant influence in the political community, most notably for co-authoring many articles and papers with Ezekiel Emanuel, one of President Biden’s health advisors on COVID-19.
