Daily US Times: The US, European Union, and South Africa is set to be temporarily paused the rollout of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Covid-19 vaccine, after reports of rare blood clotting.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that six cases were detected in more than 6.8 million doses of the vaccine.
J&J has paused its EU rollout, which started this week.
It follows similar cases after doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, which prompted curbs to its use.
The FDA said in a statement that it was recommending the temporary pause “out of an abundance of caution”. FDA confirmed that one patient died from blood clotting complications, and another is in a critical condition.
All six cases were in women aged between 18 and 48, with symptoms appearing six to 13 days after getting the vaccine.
Following the advice, all federal sites in the United States have paused using the jab until further investigations into its safety are completed. Private and state contractors are expected to follow suit.
The US has by far the most confirmed cases of Covid-19 – more than 31m – with more than 562,000 Covid related deaths, another world high.
Johnson & Johnson is a US health care company, but the Covid-19 vaccine was developed mainly by its pharmaceutical branch in Belgium, and is also known as Janssen.
Unlike some of the other vaccines, it is given as a single shot and can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures, making it easier to distribute in more remote areas hotter climates.
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