On Tuesday, the Federal health agencies in the US have called for a pause in the administration of Johnson and Johnson’s Coronavirus vaccine, as six patients have recently developed blood clots within six to 13 days of vaccination.
This has occurred in only women, belonging to the 18 to 48 age group. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have asked the states to not administer the vaccine anymore until the cause behind the blood clots is known for sure.
The CDC and the FDA said that they have called for a pause in the administration of the vaccine due to caution purely. They also said that this would give them time to completely understand the side effects of the vaccine.
More than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have been administered in the USA by April 12th. On the other hand, the blood clot detected in the six women is a special type of blood clot called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets.
Treatment of this type of blood clot is different from the treatment of other blood clots. An anticoagulant drug called heparin is usually used to treat blood clots. In this situation though, administration of heparin may be dangerous, and alternative methods need to be followed.