Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Linked to More Blood Clot Cases: CDC

Eloina Galvez receives a one shot dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic geared toward agriculture workers in Riverside, Calif., on April 5, 2021. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed more cases of rare blood clots tied to the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, saying that more than two dozen cases have been reported.

Dr. Tom Shimabukuro, with the CDC’s vaccine task force, said in an update (pdf) Wednesday that 28 total cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia were reported after the J&J vaccine was administered. Those were reported via the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which is the national vaccine surveillance system.

Shimabukuro said four of the 28 people with the condition were hospitalized—with one in a hospital intensive care unit—while three people died as of May 7. The other 19 patients have since been discharged, he said.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CDC on April 13 recommended states to temporarily halt using the J&J vaccine out of caution and investigated several women who developed cerebral venous sinus thrombosis along with low blood platelets within two weeks of getting the shot. But a CDC panel later in the month voted to resume usage of the single-shot vaccine and recommended adding a warning.

Most of the cases were among women aged 18 to 49, the CDC said, with rates among women aged 30 to 39 at 12.4 cases per million and those aged 40 to 49 at 9.4 cases per million. Only six of the clotting events identified were in men.

Women aged 40 to 49 had the “most pronounced” increase in cases of rare blood clotting, Shimabukuro said, according to Fox News.

On Wednesday, the CDC said that the events appear similar to what is being observed following the administration of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Europe.

Both vaccines are based on technology that uses adenoviruses, which can cause the common cold, as vectors. The modified viruses are used to carry DNA instructions into the body to make specific coronavirus proteins, priming the immune system to make antibodies that fight off the actual coronavirus.

Scientists are working to find the potential mechanism that would explain the blood clots. A leading hypothesis appears to be that the vaccines are triggering a rare immune response that could be related to these viral vectors.

COVID-19 is the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus.

The Epoch Times has contacted J&J for comment.

Previously, the pharmaceutical giant told The Epoch Times, following reports of the clots, that the “safety and well-being of people who use our products” is the company’s priority. It noted that it’s aware of an “extremely rare disorder involving people with blood clots in combination with low platelets in a small number of individuals who have received our COVID-19 vaccine.”

Reuters contributed to this report.