Clots cause continued pause
J&J vax on hold as officials seek more data
The current pause on administration of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine will continue until further notice as health officials seek more data following reports of a rare blood clotting disorder that might be linked to the shot.
“We’ve been kind of looking at this issue for two days or less. I just don’t feel that we’re going to have information to make an evidencebased decision and we won’t have all the information,” said Dr. Beth Bell, Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices member and public health professor at University of Washington.
Dr. Helen Keipp Talbot of Vanderbilt University added, “I feel like we’re fortunate and have the opportunity to wait a period of time and continue a hold until we have this information and strongly encourage people to continue using our messenger RNA vaccines.”
The move comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday recommended a pause in the J&J vaccine due to reports of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis in combination with low platelets in six women who were recently vaccinated.
While members of the CDC’s advisory committee chose not to take a vote on next steps and agreed to wait for more information, many brought up concerns about the impact of the vaccine on vulnerable communities for which the shot was a perfect fit.
Dr. Camille Nelson Kotton, ACIP member and infectious disease specialist at Massachusetts General
Hospital, said the pause has been “devastating,” adding, “We were planning on using this vaccine in the state of Massachusetts for people who are homebound and otherwise not able to get a vaccine. We were planning on using it for our vulnerable inpatient populations.”
The six patients, ages 18 to 48, suffered the very rare clotting issue 6 to 13 days after vaccination. The treatment for the rare disorder is different from typical blood clot treatments.
Health officials shared more information about those six cases during Wednesday’s emergency meeting.
All six women had tested negative for coronavirus and some had pre-existing conditions including obesity, coronary artery disease, hypothyroidism and hypertension.
As of now, one woman has died, three are in the hospital, including two in the ICU, and two were discharged home. A total of 7.2 million J&J shots have been administered in the United States thus far.
No obvious patterns of risk factors were detected, according to CDC officials.
The cases appeared similar to a rare, unusual type of clotting disorder that European authorities say is possibly linked to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which is not yet cleared in the United States.
The CDC committee will choose a date for its next meeting by Friday.