United States, Advisory Committee recommends resuming vaccination with Johnson & Johnson doses

Advisory Committee of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC, in English) of the United States recommended resuming the administration of the vaccine against COVID-19 of Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, after a pause by the detection of several cases of thrombosis.

This recommendation will serve as a guide to the US health authorities on what to do from now on with this vaccine, whose use has been practically suspended since last April 13 the Government recommended a pause after the detection of six cases of cerebral thrombosis. in women.

The 15 experts of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the CDC spoke out overwhelmingly in favor of this recommendation in a vote, in which 10 supported resuming vaccination with this serum, compared to 4 who opposed and one abstention.

Despite giving the green light, they pointed out that the vaccine should be accompanied by a warning about possible health risks.

During the debate, the scientists evaluated four options when updating the recommendation on the vaccine, which until last Friday has caused 15 cases of clots, most of them brain thromboses, in women of different ages, of which 3 have died.

The alternatives ranged from completely discouraging its use to recommending it for all ages and genders, which has finally been imposed, but adding a caveat.

The other two options were to warn women under 50 years of possible risks of cerebral thrombosis or to suggest its administration only to adults of both sexes older than that age.

Most of the patients who developed thrombi after being vaccinated are in their 30s, although there have been cases in women between 18 and 59 years old. All but two of those affected were under 50 years of age.

During the meeting, one of the experts mentioned that there may be potential cases in affected vaccinated men, although they have not yet been confirmed and are being studied.

The ACIP recommendation must now be signed by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) undertakes any changes to the J&J vaccine labeling.

The committee meeting was attended by representatives of J&J, who before the vote stated that they had agreed with the FDA to add to the labeling a notice that there may be a risk of blood clots.