CDC Advises People Not to Get J&J COVID Vaccine if Pfizer, Moderna Are Available

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday had preferred Pfizer's and Moderna's COVID vaccines over Johnson & Johnson's shot for adults after finding a rare blot condition following vaccination with J&J shots.

All of the patients were hospitalized, with nine of those recorded to have died, according to a CNBC report.

The CDC has confirmed 54 cases of people developing blood clots and showing low blood platelet levels, which is a new condition called thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

The condition mostly affects younger women, with those cases 36 required treatment in intensive care.

The health agency noted that people who are unwilling or unable to receive Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines will still have access to the J&J vaccine.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that the CDC's updated recommendation gives the real-time scientific information to the American public.

A committee member, Dr. Pablo Sanchez, said that he really cannot recommend a vaccine that has been associated with a condition that may lead to death, according to an NBC News report.

Sanchez is a pediatrician at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio.

J&J Vaccine Shots

Around 16 million people in the United States have received the J&J vaccine as their primary immunization, compared to 73 million fully vaccinated with Moderna's vaccine, and 114 million of Pfizer-BioNTech shots.

Only 1.6 percent chose J&J when getting their booster shots, according to The New York Times report.

The Food and Drug Administration has released updated guidance on the risks of the blood-clotting disorder linked to the J&J vaccine.

However, FDA reiterated that the benefits of the vaccine outweighed its risks.

The governments of Finland, Denmark, Slovenia had already stopped using it. Several other nations have also ranked it lower for use as compared to Pfizer's and Moderna's shots.

Panel experts noted that the J&J vaccine can still be useful for people who would have allergic reactions to the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

J&J's global therapeutics area head for vaccines, Penny Heaton, defended the company's vaccines.

Heaton noted that the vaccine is saving lives in the United States and on every continent around the globe.

Heaton also cited its efficiency to store and transporting, as well as the vaccine's importance in many low- and middle-income countries.

People who received the J&J shot months ago are not thought to be at risk for the clotting condition as the onset of symptoms usually happened about nine days after vaccination in the diagnosed cases.

TTS case and J&J Vaccine

Seven of the patients who died due to the condition were women and two were men, with a median age of 45.

Those included in the death toll had underlying health conditions such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. Obesity was the most common underlying medical condition.

Federal officials briefly postponed the distribution of the vaccines in April due to concerns about the risk of blood clots.

Thirty-six out of 54 J&J recipients diagnosed with the condition were admitted to an intensive care unit, with the longest hospital stay being 132 days.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by Mary Webber

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