J&J vaccine issues pause US president Joe Biden’s inoculation plans

Federal govt agencies, FDA, CDC recommend stopping injecting the jab after six women out of 7 mn recipients develop a very rare type of brain blood clot

President Joe Biden’s plan to free the nation from the most onerous COVID-19 restrictions by Independence Day through mass vaccinations has been hit by the “pause” in the use of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine following reports of some people developing blood clots after being injected with it.

The federal government agencies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), on Tuesday recommended stopping injecting the vaccine after six women who received it came down with a very rare type of brain blood clot.

The nation’s top expert on COVID-19 and Biden’s Chief Medical Advisor, Anthony Fauci, said, “This is a really rare event. If you look at what we know so far, there have been six out of the 6.85 million doses, which is less than one in a million.” But the action was being taken “out of an abundance of caution” so that medical authorities can “take a good look at it,” he said.

Besides cutting down on the availability of the vaccines even if temporarily, the news of the problems with the J&J vaccine and the suspension of its use are likely to reinforce vaccine hesitancy.

Before the J&J problem arose, several polls showed that about one in four people in America would not be vaccinated. About 70 per cent of the population has to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity that will stop the spread of the disease according to experts and Biden’s hope of “independence” from the Coronavirus virus by Independence Day on July 4 was counting on it.

Spain keeps its goal of vaccinating 70% adult population

Spain’s prime minister says his government is maintaining its goal of immunising 70 per cent of the nation’s adult population, some 33 million people, by the end of the summer despite the delay in the European rollout of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine. Spain was expecting to receive 300,000 doses of the Janssen vaccine on Wednesday, the first delivery of the jab produced by J&J. 

Study to mix, match jabs extended

A study assessing the benefits of mixing and matching Coronavirus vaccines has been extended to include the Moderna and Novavax jabs. The Com-Cov study, led by the University of Oxford, has been investigating the immune responses of volunteers given a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine followed by the Pfizer jab, and vice versa, since February. 

6,79,003
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

13,75,71,706
Total no. of cases worldwide

29,62,248
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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