Just days after johnson /Johnson’s six cases of blood clots after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, the U.S. federal health agency recommended that the vaccine be discontinued.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hopes johnson&Johnson’s one-dose vaccine halt will only take place within days and aims to provide information to hospitals in the diagnosis and treatment of blood clots.
Immunosmmunity experts and U.S. officials also insist the risk from Johnson’s vaccine is extremely low.
“Whether the cause may be related to vaccines, the rate of 6 cases out of seven million vaccination doses is not worrying”Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, said.
A Washington citizen vaccinates Johnson & Johnson. (Photo: Roll Call)
But this reassua reassure is not enough to convince many. The anti-vaccine mentality that has been a major obstacle to President Biden’s ambitious vaccination campaign tends to spread.
Mr Adalja himself admitted he feared Johnson’s stopping the use of the vaccine could increase vaccination reprehensation.
In an interview with the press on April 14, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zient asserted that recent recommendations by health officials would not have a significant impact on U.S. vaccination plans.
“The U.S. ensures enough doses of the vaccine provided by Moderna and Pfizer to continue vaccinating 3 million people every day“, Mr. Zient.
President Biden himself insisted there was certainly enough vaccine for the American people after the Johnson /Johnson “incident.”
Mr Biden’s goal is to vaccinate 200 million Americans by the end of April. By July, the U.S. leader expects more than 300 million Americans to be vaccinated.
But health experts believe that stopping the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for an uns determined period of time may more or less affect this overall goal.
The johnson/johnson decision will first affect vaccine reception locations from the federal government: community immunization clinics, mobile immunization units, and locations operated by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The move could also cause some vaccination points to close simultaneously to rebalance the vaccine used. FEMA said it is working with states to find alternative vaccines.
“FEMA is committed to supporting the implementation of the President’s goal of ensuring that everyone who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated.” representatives of this agency emphasized.
Georgia, North Carolina and Colorado reportedly closed vaccination points before the announcement after receiving information about cases of side effects following the Johnson /Johnson vaccine.
Several other states convene experts to consider re-coordinating vaccination campaigns in their states.
Johnson & amp; Johnson vaccine packing staff packed cold storage boxes to prepare for transportation. (Photo: AP)
“California will convene the Scientific Safety Assessment Working Group of Western states to review information provided by the federal government,” state epidemiologer Erica Pan said.
Many states report the number of Johnson & Johnson vaccines they use accounts for only 4 to 6% of all vaccines they are given.
But health experts are concerned that in the current context, any gears in the derailed supply chain will affect everyone.
Washington state health agency leader Umair Shah insisted he believed the suspension of the Johnson /Johnson vaccine was only temporary. But that could have a major impact on access to vaccines by the most at-risk groups because many states have taken advantage of Johnson’s one-dose vaccine to reach hard-to-reach communities. Unlike Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine does not need to be preserved at extremely cold temperatures and requires only a single dose.
According to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, the new recommendation will not affect mass immunization points. Even so, it will slow vaccinations in prisons, preventing vaccinations for the homeless and the most vulnerable in State.
But there are also states that are confident that stopping the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will not suffer much.
“We have a lot of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines available to make sure that people can get it if they want to., Keith Reed – Oklahoma State Health Agency official insisted.
The states of New York, Louisiana, South Carolina and Missouri believe there will be no disruption at mass immunization points in their states.
Tom McCarthy , leader of Rhode Island’s COVID-19 response team, said the vaccination situation in his state won’t be much of an interruption.
“We rely more on Modena and Pfizer’s vaccines,” he said.
Until Rhode Island had only injected 31,000 doses of the Johnson / Johnson vaccine
According to Mr McCarthy, those who have been scheduled to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will not be rescheduled and given a dose of Pfizer or Moderna instead.
In Alabama, many vaccination points will continue to offer the Pfizer vaccine. Of the 2 million vaccines used in the state, only 71,00 are from Johnson & Johnson.
However, the uneven impact between the states puts pressure on the White House to consider distributing vaccines on demand rather than by population.
“I call on the federal government to help because we hear about reports from across the country about places that don’t ask for more vaccines and don’t use the vaccines they’ve received. Do the smart thing in the context of this challenge”, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said.
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