Drugs and their side effects

On Tuesday morning, the US Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a release acknowledging an extremely rare clotting disorder was associated with the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine. The problem is actually less than a one-in-a-million issue; in data from the US, where 6.8 million doses of this vaccine have been used, there have only been six instances of the clotting problem detected. Because the clots call for an unusual treatment, however, the organizations are calling for a pause in administering the shot. This will provide them with time to ensure the medical community is aware of the appropriate treatment. This is not the first vaccine to create extremely rare clotting issues. They've also been seen following use of the AstraZeneca vaccine . The problem appears to be caused by the harmless virus (an Adenovirus) that carries a single gene from SARS-CoV-2 in order to elicit an immune response. The leading … [Read more...] about J&J COVID vaccine use paused due to one-in-a-million complication

Today’s announcement that federal officials have recommended pausing use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine might hurt efforts to encourage people to get vaccinated. But — critically — that doesn’t mean the federal officials shouldn’t have made the recommendation, says Melanie Kornides, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing who studies why some people are hesitant to take vaccines. “Some people are missing the message — they’re so worried about hesitancy, that they’re not seeing how important it is to address the safety, in order to make people feel less hesitant,” she says. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the pause while they investigate six reports of rare blood clots in people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. The specific illnesses were unusual: the patients had a rare type of blood clot in their brains and very low levels of platelets, a type … [Read more...] about How the Johnson & Johnson pause could move the needle on vaccine fears

By Gretchen Vogel , Kai Kupferschmidt Apr. 13, 2021 , 4:50 PM Science ’s COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Heising-Simons Foundation. A rare but very serious side effect that has complicated Europe’s COVID-19 vaccination schedules for the past month has now thrown a wrench into U.S. immunization efforts as well. In a joint statement on Tuesday morning , the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced they were “recommending a pause” in the use of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) “out of an abundance of caution.” The move came after six cases of a rare clotting disorder, also seen in some people vaccinated with AstraZeneca’s vaccine, were reported among more than 6.8 million people vaccinated with the J&J vaccine in the United States. All cases occurred in women between the ages of 18 and 48. One of them died. “While these events are very rare, we’re recommending a … [Read more...] about Concerns over rare clotting disorders halt use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine