Developments with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine: Deliveries to the EU are delayed

THE Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday it would delay the delivery of its vaccines to Europe and was reviewing with European health authorities rare cases of thrombosis in people who received the single-dose vaccine, according to Reuters.

U.S. federal health services proposed earlier Tuesday discontinue the Johnson & Johnson vaccine immediately after thrombosis occurs in six people within two weeks of being vaccinated.

All six who received the vaccine were women aged 18 to 48 years. One woman has died and a second in Nebraska is in critical condition, officials said, according to a New York Times article prior to the FDA announcement.

The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued a statement regarding the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against COVID-19, recommending that it be stopped, as stated in a message posted on Twitter. Their joint statement stressed that the side effects seem to be extremely rare at the moment.

The US authorities’ decision comes about a week after the EU regulator said it was reviewing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for possible thrombosis.

Four severe cases of rare low platelet thrombosis, one of which resulted in death, have been reported after vaccination with the J&J vaccine from the Janssen plant, said European Medicines Agency (EMA), on April 9.

It is noted that the Johnson & Johnson began delivering the first doses of its single-dose vaccine to European Union countries on Monday.

The first installments are expected in Greece on Wednesday (14/4), while vaccinations are expected to start on Monday (19/4).

Waiting stop in Berlin

The German Ministry of Health has not yet decided how to handle the issue of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, after the US decision to suspend its administration, said the spokesman Hanno Kauts.

Answering a question in the context of informing the authors, Mr. Kauts referred to the Paul Ehrlich Institute, which, as he said, is responsible for the issue. Asked about the decision taken by the Bavarian government to continue the vaccine, Mr. Kautz said that the Institute’s recommendations have federal force.

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