This story was up to date at 8:35 p.m.
April 23, 2021 — Use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine ought to resume in the US for all adults, the FDA and CDC mentioned Friday, though well being care suppliers ought to warn sufferers of the danger of growing the uncommon and critical blood clots that induced the companies to pause the vaccine’s distribution earlier this month.
“What we’re seeing is the general fee of occasions was 1.9 instances per million folks. In ladies 18 to 29 years there was an approximate 7 instances per million. The chance is even decrease in ladies over the age of fifty at .9 instances per million,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, mentioned in a information briefing Friday night..
Ultimately, the potential advantages of the vaccine far outweighed its dangers.
“When it comes to advantages, we discovered that for each 1 million doses of this vaccine, the J&J vaccine may stop over 650 hospitalizations and 12 deaths amongst ladies ages 18-49,” Walensky mentioned. The potential advantages to ladies over 50 had been even better: It may stop 4700 hospitalizations and 650 deaths.
“Ultimately, this vaccine was proven to be secure and efficient for the overwhelming majority of individuals,” Walensky mentioned at a press briefing on Friday night time.
The advice to proceed the vaccine’s rollout got here barely 2 hours after a CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted to advocate the pause be lifted. The vote was 10-4 with one abstention.
The choice additionally consists of directions for the warning directed at ladies underneath 50 who’ve an elevated danger of a uncommon however critical blood clot dysfunction known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS).
As of April 21, 15 instances of TTS, all in ladies and 13 of them in ladies underneath 50, have been confirmed amongst 7.98 million doses of the J&J vaccine administered within the U.S. Three ladies have died.
The FDA and CDC advisable the pause on April 13 after stories that 6 ladies developed a blood clotting dysfunction 6 to 13 days after they acquired the J&J vaccine.
William Schaffner, MD, an infectious illness professional at Vanderbilt College in Nashville, and a non-voting ACIP member, mentioned in an interview the panel made the precise advice.
He applauded each the choice to restart the vaccine and the up to date warning info that “will clarify [TTS] extra absolutely to folks, notably ladies, who’re coming to be vaccinated.”
As to ladies within the danger group needing to have a alternative of vaccines, Schaffner mentioned that will likely be addressed in a different way throughout the nation.
“Each supplier is not going to have various vaccines of their location so there will likely be many alternative methods to do that. You could have to get this info and choose which website you’re going to relying on which vaccine is on the market if this matter is essential to you,” he famous.
ACIP made at this time’s choice after a 6-hour emergency assembly to listen to proof on advantage of Johnson & Johnson’s protecting advantages in opposition to COVID-19 vs. danger of TTS.
Within the CDC-FDA press briefing, Walensky identified that over the previous few days, as regulators have reviewed the uncommon occasions, newly recognized sufferers had been handled appropriately, with out the usage of heparin, which isn’t suggested for treating TTS.
In consequence, regulators felt like their messages had gotten out to medical doctors who now knew how you can take particular precautions when treating sufferers with the dysfunction.
She mentioned the Johnson & Johnson shot remained an essential possibility as a result of it was handy to offer and simpler to retailer than the opposite vaccines at present approved within the U.S.
Peter Marks, MD, the director of FDA’s Heart for Biologics Analysis and Analysis, mentioned the company had already added info describing the danger of the uncommon clotting dysfunction to its truth sheets for sufferers and medical doctors.
Janet Woodcock, performing commissioner of the FDA, mentioned vaccination facilities may resume giving the “one and achieved” photographs as early as tomorrow morning.
