US Health Officials Pause Certain Vaccine After Troubling Side Effects

This is the “beginning of the end” of the coronavirus pandemic as we know it, at least according to those who are following the science, and much of the success of this endeavor appears to hinge on how many Americans we can get vaccinated, and in what sort of time frame.

For the most part, things have gone well in this realm.  The Biden administration is regularly topping their weekly and monthly goals for inoculation, and there are several states out there who are beginning to reopen in earnest.

But a small snag has hit the plan this week, after US health officials suggested that we stop using one of the three vaccines that are currently being deployed stateside.

The U.S. on Tuesday recommended a “pause” in using the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots, a development that could jeopardize the rollout of vaccines around the world.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration announced that they were investigating unusual clots that occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination. The FDA commissioner said she expected the pause to last a matter of days.

The clots occurred in veins that drain blood from the brain and occurred together with low platelets, the fragments in blood that normally form clots. All six cases were in women between the ages of 18 and 48. One person died, and all of the cases remain under investigation.

More than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been given in the U.S., the vast majority with no or mild side effects.

The move could very well be temporary, however, with some experts suggesting that the pause need only remain in effect until the risks associated with this one-dose shot are properly advertised to the public.